One of my favorite verses is Philippians 4:8. And one of the many reasons I love this verse is that it contains my favorite word in Greek, arete. Arete means excellence; in fact, it encompasses a concept so excellent that we don’t really have a good word for it in English.
Often in my mind, I combine this verse with verses like Colossians 3:23, which says “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men”. Together, these verses seem to say that we should strive for excellence in all we do, giving every work our very best, for this is how we honor God.
And in a sense, this is true. After all, we’re told to do everything in the name of Jesus. What sort of a witness is it to do something halfway?
But we have to be careful with this line of thinking. Not only does it put a lot of unnecessary stress upon ourselves (which I will explain in a moment), but it can also lead to pride, overworking, and judging others.
Redefining Excellence
If you have perfectionistic tendencies like me, you probably want to interpret excellence as doing everything as well as is humanly possible. Not just As in school, but as close to 100% as you can. Not just being part of good clubs, but leading them. Not just working hard in sports, but being one of the best on the team. But is that really what it means to be excellent?
What if being excellent was so much more than being the best? What if being excellent was so much more freeing than the burden of having to do absolutely everything as perfectly as possible?
A lesson that I have had to learn is that you cannot please everyone and you cannot do everything. Sometimes there are going to be a lot of different voices telling you a lot of different things. You simply cannot make everyone happy. Someone is likely to be disappointed in your performance at some point in some area. I’m learning that growing up is deciding whose standards are worth meeting. Striving for excellence is honoring God ahead of pleasing people.
Perhaps you’re thinking, “I’m not trying to please anyone though. No one’s putting pressure on me to do this or that well”. If that’s the case but you still find yourself stressed over wanting to do everything and do it better, try to take a step back. You might be very right that there are no external pressures on you. But are you putting an internal pressure on yourself? Think about why you are striving to be the best, and why that stresses you out. Is it possible that you’re allowing your performance in various areas of life to become an idol?
Excellence is learning how to prioritize. My dad recently told me about a method from Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, which uses a quadrant of important and urgent. Some things are important and urgent. Others are important but not urgent. Some are neither. And still others are urgent but not important. We have to learn to figure out which categories each activity fits in. Then we have to decide which category is the most pressing at any given moment. Sometimes, you don’t always know what should be a priority: that’s where prayer and wise counsel come in. These will help you clarify what is important and urgent in your life and what you should step back from. These don’t always give you a completely clear picture, but they certainly help to bring peace and assurance that you are acting wisely.
Excellence is also rest. If you try to do so well in everything that you “don’t have time for sleep” you will find that you are not doing your best in everything. But sleep is not the only type of rest you need. God created us for rest. We aren’t meant to go 100 miles per hour every single second of our lives. Rest means naps. Rest means taking a break from your responsibilities. Rest means taking time for God. And of course, there is a line between resting and being lazy, but true rest doesn’t hinder our work performance by feeding our slothful desires. Rather, it strengthens us and motivates us to do good work through the rest of the week.
In sum, excellence is striving to align your priorities with God’s will for your life. It is not doing everything at 100% capacity. God didn’t create us like that. It is asking God to show you what is most important to Him and striving to do those things well. It’s balancing school, family, friends, and yes, rest, all while centered on Christ. And it’s acknowledging that you can’t do everything, that you are not all-powerful, and that you need support.
It’s sometimes putting your grade above playing another game with your younger sibling and other times its vice versa. Sometimes it’s saying no to a hang out with friends because you have to go to work. Other times it’s studying an hour less for the exam so that you can pour into the people God has put around you. God knows you and He knows your limits; seek Him first and your priorities will fall into place.
In doing this, you have to remember that excellence and being well-rounded doesn’t always look the same for everyone. God has designed some of us to more people-forward, while others need alone time to recharge. Some of us are more focused on our studies, while others can talk to people (and do it well and kindly) all day long.
However, being well-rounded means that you don’t simply lean into your strengths; you also attempt to strengthen your weaknesses. So sometimes, yes, you need to give up hanging out with friends so that you can do your best on your exam. But other times, accepting a B might not be an issue if it means you are able to do other good things for the Lord, like showing His love to others or taking time to rest in Him.
Excellence isn’t people-pleasing or always being as close to perfect in everything as is humanly possible. Excellence is trusting and resting in God, aligning your priorities with His will, and realizing that His plans are so much better than anything you can accomplish on your own. So don’t wear yourself out trying to do things perfectly. Instead strive to follow the Lord with all your heart, soul, and strength, for this is how you will be truly holy as your Heavenly Father is holy.
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