This week, our country of Kenya is so happy to have become top of the world in World Athletics in Beijing, China. Every Kenyan is so proud of TEAM KENYA, composing of our young men and women who participated in these games. In Kiswahili we say HONGERA. To achieve the above results it was prudent for the team to work and not only work but work excellently. The same is desired of every man. Men must work excellently. It is important to work and not sit idle. You are supposed to eat from your sweat. Excellence is the product of hard work.
Excellence is not just a concept, but a pattern of life which should be expressed by all who claim to belong to the Kingdom of God. It should not be an end in itself, but be a servant to purpose and vision. It should not only affect a small sphere or segment of one's life, but the whole. For example, someone with high achievements who has bad moral influence and a fouled-up private life does not qualify for excellence, because excellence has its roots in character and integrity. Its power lies in high morality. The kind of excellence we are talking about goes beyond the superficial and temporal secular success concepts. It encompasses all spheres of life. It is complete and whole.
Proverbs 12:24; The hand of the diligent will rule, But the lazy man will be put to forced labor.(NKJV)
Areas of Excellence for Every Man
For you to truly be called a man of excellence, your excellence must be in at least three areas.
1. Excellence in the Area of Spirituality.
You need to understand you cannot have excellence if you just get an A in just a academic exam. To get an A in an exam doesn’t prepare you for a life of excellence. Many people have As, but they do not become excellent workers because they are just bookworms. Being excellent just in our professional life is not adequate also. First you need an A in Spirituality. Anybody who is at peace spiritually with God has already started becoming a success. Do not ever call yourself a success if you are not yet experiencing peace with God. Every other area of success is based on peace with God.
Ecclesiastes 10:18; Because of laziness the building decays, And through idleness of hands the house leaks.(NKJV)
Spiritual excellence is becoming like God. If you really want to have a relationship with God you must listen to His voice.
2. Excellence in Your Professional Life
Philippians 4:8; Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things.(NKJV)
But in addition to spiritual excellence it is important to have professional excellence. Or for students, it is to be a student of excellence. God knows the brains He has given you. God knows the kind of head He has given you. A Christian must be a man of excellence. God does not reward people for being clever but reward people for working hard. God hates laziness. If you are a Christian you cannot be lazy. And why can’t you be lazy? Because for you, you will not measure your working against other people around you, you do it to the glory of God. Can you ever be lazy when you are doing it for God?
Proverbs 19:15; Laziness casts one into a deep sleep, And an idle person will suffer hunger.(NKJV)
3. Excellence in Your Social Life.
Luke 2:52; And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.(NKJV)
We are told about Jesus who was a man of excellence. How did we know He is of excellence? He grew up physically. He grew up in stature, which is physical growth. Then He grew up in wisdom. That is mental growth. And then He grew up in favour with God. That is spiritual growth. And finally He grew up in favour with men. That is social growth. So a man of excellence must fit that Jesus’ description. He must grow physically. That means he must look after his body well. He must do exercises. The same God who expects you to be excellent spiritually is the same one who expects you to be excellent mentally, and excellent in favour with men.
It is then important to understand that socially you must have time to be excellent. It means in your busy schedule, give time to be with others socially. You must never lack time for your family. Socially you must be the kind of a person who spends time with others in the society. That means you have learnt the interpersonal skills, ability to deal with other people.
For you to be called a man of excellence you must be the type of a person who people can relate with others well. You know there are people who are called difficult people. They are difficult to live with. You must learn to handle them too.
Finally
Excellence does not come easily. We have to set goals and be willing to meet the conditions required.
Skill, competence or ingenuity alone does not produce true excellence. It has to be expressed and reflected by the nature of our very life and values. In other words, we have to be people of integrity. The only people who achieve excellence are those who are dissatisfied by mediocrity, so they set out to make up the difference. They are loyal to their commitments, seek no shortcuts, and take no reward for anything they do not deserve.
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