Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things. Philippians 4:8
First thing
This is not Scripture, but it is one of my favorite quotes:
"If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well." -Martin Luther King, Jr.
The first thing to excellence is simply to do all things to the best of your ability. No matter what your calling in life, whether it is noble or ignoble, you can do your job well. Especially when an entire congregation of saints does their unique duty well, it shows. Good work cannot be hidden. The collective excellence of saints shines brighter than the sun.
Maintain perspective
Eternity matters; the temporal does not. Heaven comes first; we are only pilgrims here. Remember that many things are trivial, especially as you think of other people's actions. We can do all things to the best of our ability, but we must remember to bear with the defects of others. Why? Because it ultimately is not important. This is the ascetic mentality. Doing excellent things and being excellent comes from a certain light-heartedness. Before you can make a safer car, you must remind yourself that mankind survived quite nicely with horses for thousands of years. This takes the pressure off, freeing your mind and body for the best work possible.
Forgive
For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. -Jesus in Matthew 6:14-15
Forgiveness is kinda like plan B. Obviously plan A is that no one would ever sin against another person. But we live in an imperfect world. Mistakes will happen, sins will occur and offenses will be made. But if we did not forgive people when they sin against us, that would result in continual bitterness and anger. We simply need to let go of those things, reminding ourselves that those things are not important. So someone took some of your money? So what? So someone slandered your name? Big deal. So someone cheated you? It doesn't matter. When we forgive each other, that too, takes the pressure off. Its like we have the freedom to make mistakes, but of course we try our best not to. Remember, love keeps no record of wrongs.
Do not worry
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own -Jesus in Matthew 6:33-34
Maintaining perspective and forgiving others are leading to this point: Do not worry. Since many things are not important, and we all are called to forgive one another, bearing with each others defects, there's simply no reason to worry. A person cannot be excellent if they're always in a tissle. Stress can even kill (heart-attacks). So trust in God, let go of trivial things, and you will be in the right frame of mind to be excellent and do good.
Love
But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you -Jesus in Matthew 5:44
The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Galatians 5:14
Love is key. When people all over the world love their neighbor, and even love their fellow man across the globe, that is when God's "kingdom come," and His "will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Love is the most excellent of all, as Paul says, "the greatest of these is love." If we want to see excellence in the world, in each other and throughout the world, we simply must love each other.
Pray
If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. James 1:5
Trust in God. Prayer is a sign that you trust in God. If you lack anything needed for excellence, do something so basic: pray. God empowers us. God leads us. We are not orphans, and we do not strive on our own. We strive with God as our vanguard and our rearguard. We strive with millions of saints from every tongue, tribe and nation. You may not think that you have what it takes; that's ok, because you shouldn't trust in yourself, you should trust in God. Ask Him for what it takes.
To the glory of God
In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. -Jesus in Matthew 5:16
Why excellence? Why love and forgiveness? Why do we do these things? To the glory of God! It begins and ends with God. We seek Him and His kingdom, He empowers us, and the result is His glory. Everything in between, even the street sweeping, is done to make an excellent world that begs the question: Where does this come from? It comes from God. We shine the light, so that men see the light and want the light for themselves. Then we let them know the Source of all goodness and excellence.
First thing
This is not Scripture, but it is one of my favorite quotes:
"If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well." -Martin Luther King, Jr.
The first thing to excellence is simply to do all things to the best of your ability. No matter what your calling in life, whether it is noble or ignoble, you can do your job well. Especially when an entire congregation of saints does their unique duty well, it shows. Good work cannot be hidden. The collective excellence of saints shines brighter than the sun.
Maintain perspective
Eternity matters; the temporal does not. Heaven comes first; we are only pilgrims here. Remember that many things are trivial, especially as you think of other people's actions. We can do all things to the best of our ability, but we must remember to bear with the defects of others. Why? Because it ultimately is not important. This is the ascetic mentality. Doing excellent things and being excellent comes from a certain light-heartedness. Before you can make a safer car, you must remind yourself that mankind survived quite nicely with horses for thousands of years. This takes the pressure off, freeing your mind and body for the best work possible.
Forgive
For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. -Jesus in Matthew 6:14-15
Forgiveness is kinda like plan B. Obviously plan A is that no one would ever sin against another person. But we live in an imperfect world. Mistakes will happen, sins will occur and offenses will be made. But if we did not forgive people when they sin against us, that would result in continual bitterness and anger. We simply need to let go of those things, reminding ourselves that those things are not important. So someone took some of your money? So what? So someone slandered your name? Big deal. So someone cheated you? It doesn't matter. When we forgive each other, that too, takes the pressure off. Its like we have the freedom to make mistakes, but of course we try our best not to. Remember, love keeps no record of wrongs.
Do not worry
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own -Jesus in Matthew 6:33-34
Maintaining perspective and forgiving others are leading to this point: Do not worry. Since many things are not important, and we all are called to forgive one another, bearing with each others defects, there's simply no reason to worry. A person cannot be excellent if they're always in a tissle. Stress can even kill (heart-attacks). So trust in God, let go of trivial things, and you will be in the right frame of mind to be excellent and do good.
Love
But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you -Jesus in Matthew 5:44
The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Galatians 5:14
Love is key. When people all over the world love their neighbor, and even love their fellow man across the globe, that is when God's "kingdom come," and His "will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Love is the most excellent of all, as Paul says, "the greatest of these is love." If we want to see excellence in the world, in each other and throughout the world, we simply must love each other.
Pray
If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. James 1:5
Trust in God. Prayer is a sign that you trust in God. If you lack anything needed for excellence, do something so basic: pray. God empowers us. God leads us. We are not orphans, and we do not strive on our own. We strive with God as our vanguard and our rearguard. We strive with millions of saints from every tongue, tribe and nation. You may not think that you have what it takes; that's ok, because you shouldn't trust in yourself, you should trust in God. Ask Him for what it takes.
To the glory of God
In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. -Jesus in Matthew 5:16
Why excellence? Why love and forgiveness? Why do we do these things? To the glory of God! It begins and ends with God. We seek Him and His kingdom, He empowers us, and the result is His glory. Everything in between, even the street sweeping, is done to make an excellent world that begs the question: Where does this come from? It comes from God. We shine the light, so that men see the light and want the light for themselves. Then we let them know the Source of all goodness and excellence.
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