Justin Tucker, LHC Worship Pastor

1 Corinthians 10:31

 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Excellence is a buzzword in today’s culture. No matter what your job is, excellence is the standard that we are all expected to meet. So what does that mean? What is excellence? In The American Heritage Dictionary, excellence is defined as “The state, quality, or condition of excelling; superiority. I think we can all agree that in our work, in our parenting, and in our relationships that we all want to pursue those things with excellence. I think the problem with our pursuit of excellence, most of the time, is that we confuse it with perfection or we kill it with comparison. I know I have been guilty of both of those. Excellence doesn’t come from trying to be perfect or from trying to be better than someone else. Excellence is being your best. Excellence is being better tomorrow than you were yesterday. Excellence means matching your practice with your potential. Excellence means taking the very best of what you have to offer (skill, talent, ability) and leaving it on the altar and allowing God to anoint it and do what only He can with it. Excellence isn’t a pursuit of perfection or superiority, it’s a pursuit of humility and obedience. The reality is that whatever giftedness we have or think we have…God isn’t impressed by. He’s the one that gave those abilities to us when he knit us together. He’s more interested in the posture and position of our hearts when we use what He has given us. He wants all we have for His glory. 

Let’s look quickly at  a story of a young boy in John chapter 6. Jesus has been teaching into the day and people started to get hungry. The disciples started to panic and wonder how they were going to feed everybody when a young boy brought his sack lunch up. That sack lunch of five barley loaves and two fish was all that young man had to offer but in the hands of Jesus, the world’s largest fish fry took place. We are able to see that when we take all that we have and we give it to Jesus that He can do immeasurably more than we can think, ask for, or imagine. God’s glory was on full display when Jesus worked this miracle. 5,000 men were filled and there were plenty of leftovers. The boy’s gift combined with Jesus’ anointing led to the Father’s glory.  By the way, there must not have been any Baptists in the crowd since there was no mention of a casserole in the scripture.

PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Lord, help me to pursue an excellence that glorifies You and forgive me when I chase my own success. I know that with you all things are possible and that Your Will cannot be stopped. Help me to rest in Your peace. Forgive me when I don’t give You my best. Lord, I just ask that You would take the gifts that You have placed inside of me and use them in a way that only You can. Move me out of the way, Lord. In Jesus’ name, amen.

MEMORY VERSE FOR THE WEEK:

Galatians 3:28: 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave[g] nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.