I saw an interesting opinion recently about how to achieve excellence. “Excellence can be achieved if you risk more than others think is safe, love more than others think is wise, dream more than others think is practical and expect more than others think is possible.” The source is unknown, but I think there are some truths in it that we can apply to our Christian life.
The overriding point of that statement is that we will not achieve the excellence God created us to attain if we listen to the voices of the enemy and those in the world around us. We must ignore the negative, discouraging words being continuously whispered in our ear and concentrate on the positive encouragement of the Holy Spirit within us and our Christian brothers and sisters.
Let’s take a closer look at the four parts of that statement. First, God often asks us to step out in faith when it appears risky to do so. I take heart from the first chapter of the Old Testament book of Joshua. In that chapter God is urging Joshua to lead his people into the Promise Land without fear of the risks involved. My coffee cup has on it a quote from that passage of scripture that is a daily reminder to me; “Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)
Second, the love we give isn’t always returned and sometimes that can hurt us deeply, but we are told to love everyone, even our enemy, regardless of their response or actions. Jesus loves and died for everyone in the world, including those who tortured and crucified Him. Not everyone has returned His love, but those of us who have, receive the love in our heart that only comes from God. If we love others without expecting love in return, we will eventually find our soul mate with whom to share a deep mutual love and we will also find many others with whom we can share the Christian love of brothers and sisters in God’s family.
Third, when we dream of what God wants for us, the sky is the limit. Our dreams won’t seem practical to the world, but by faith we can achieve the impractical. Finally, in addition to the impractical, we can expect to achieve what others think is humanly impossible, because we know “with God everything is possible”. (Matthew 19:26)
Not feeling excellent right now? Remember how much God loved you long before you began that climb toward excellence. (John 3:16) Jesus thinks you were worth dying for. If that doesn’t encourage you to make it to the top, I don’t know what will.