Perfect or Excellent
Do you do everything with excellence?
This question evades people sometimes because the common misconception of the phrase means that we have to be “perfect.” I argue that misconception isn’t quite proper. Colossians 3:23 says, “Whatever we do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord.” Some versions say, “In everything you do, do with excellence as unto the Lord.” So, does this mean that I have to be perfect at something in order for it to be used for God’s Glory? The short answer is No and I’ll tell you why.
We have all been children at one point. And have especially been teenagers. This means that we all went through a stage where we didn’t really care about what the adults wanted us to do, or even do what they told us to do well. We chose to give as little as we could unless there was a physical punishment or a restriction coming our way. At which time we buckled down and eventually heard the words, ”See,I knew you could do it.” but we had to get to the point of “have to” rather than be able to be in the place of “Get to.”
How many of us approach the things in our life with the “Get to” mindset? I know that for 20 years I was working in the “have to” mindset. I worked hard labor construction because I had a family to support and we chose for my kids mom to be at home with them. As I am happy that God gave me the ability to provide that for all of them, I struggled with the excellence of heart.
As I progressed into owning my own business, I was then burdened by the fact that we can’t make everyone happy even if the job was done perfectly. I struggled hard at that point to reconcile perfection and excellence that I felt God was trying to teach me in that time. Let’s put it this way, I was very good at what I did, and can still do it today….But I hated the job, and honestly, still do. So when I work a side job now, what heart am I working in? Even this Job…Am I working from a heart of doing everything I can in excellence? The answer was no at that time. I was burdened by the “have to” mentality and that was stifling the heart of “I get to” do this.
I found in my experience of leading in ministry and in business that the main difference in perfection and excellence is the heart. We can be one who is not great at something but giving excellence because of the heart to excel…do you see it? I may not be the best musician/singer, or engineer, or even tile guy. But if my aim is to always get better and grow…it is at that time that I am working in excellence unto the Lord.
Here is where we will wrap this up. Excellence and Perfection are not the same. Jesus in scripture only wanted the best/excellence from his disciples, and called that from us as well. We can never be perfect. Only He can be. Therefore, we must change the “have to” mindset that we take on because we expect perfection from ourselves and put on the “get to” attitude of gratefulness to find excellence. When we take on the heart of “Have to” we now are walking in our own strength and knowledge in the job or situation. A heart of Gratitude and love for others puts us into the “get to” attitude where excellence flows.
