For some reason, whenever something is done with excellence it inspires me. Maybe it is the perfectionistic side of me. But all I know is that when people give their 100% and they do things well, it encourages me.
The flip side of this is when people do things half-heartedly or doing things to just get by. This deflates me especially if they are on your team and we are trying to achieve something great for God’s glory.
I have been criticized quite a bit on this topic. People have said that I am – “too demanding,” “lack in giving grace,” “not compassionate enough,” “hard to work with,” and etc.
Even in the midst of these criticisms, I think about how God deserves my best. We will never reach perfection, but when we are at peace in knowing that we have done the best that we can with what we have been given, then that is excellence. The key phrase is, “the best that we can with what we have been given.”
Too often we complain about what we don’t have and make excuses of what we could not do. Outside of trusting in God and prayer, the important thing is our “effort” and “ability.” God has given us capacities and energy to do things for His glory, but that capacity and energy varies from person to person. God has also given us various and varying abilities therefore, not everyone will be able to do the same amount of things.
Ultimately, when everything is said and done (hopefully more done than said) we want to hear from the lips of Jesus, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!”
(Mt 25:21).
Isn’t that faithfulness – “doing the best that we can with what we have been given”?
If 99% is “good enough,” then in our daily life, it means that:
• Electricity would be off for fifteen minutes every day.
• 12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents daily
• 114,500 mismatched pairs of shoes will be shipped each year
• 18,322 pieces of mail will be mishandled per hour
• 2.5 million books will be shipped with the wrong cover
• Two planes will crash daily at Chicago’s O’Hare airport
• 315 entries in Webster’s Dictionary will be misspelled
• 291 pacemaker operations will be performed incorrectly.
“Every job is a self-portrait of the person who did it. Autograph your work with excellence.”
May we do things with excellence so instead of seeing us, people will see God’s autograph on our work and praise Him, who is worthy of all the praise.
