Striving for Excellence

Good morning! I hope your weekend was relaxing and that you have hit the pavement this morning ready to run with excellence.

This morning I want to talk to you about striving for excellence. In high school I was, for lack of a better term, a professional slacker. I graduated high school with an underwhelming 2.86 GPA, even though I tested out on the top end of my college entrance exams. The greatest barrier to my success was my attitude. I had a sharp mind and all of the potential in the world, but I wasn’t interested in excellence. I was more interested in doing just enough to get by.

You’ve known people like that haven’t you? Some of you are also proud graduates of the school of “just enough.” Today I want to challenge you with this verse from Galatians:

Galatians 6:4 (NLT)
Be sure to do what you should, for then you will enjoy the personal satisfaction of having done your work well, and you won't need to compare yourself to anyone else.

Excellence is a core value that comes from within. It is a desire to do more than “just enough.” Let me give you an example that I’m sure most of us can relate to. You go to your local retail outlet and after standing in line for 10 minutes at the checkout counter it is finally your turn. Generally at this point we will encounter one of two people. The first person considers their work to simply be a “job.” They are more interested in getting their regularly scheduled break than in doing the best job possible. They don’t greet you, they don’t make eye contact and they treat you like you’re an inconvenience. The second person is a person who absolutely loves what they do. They find a deep sense of purpose and meaning in their work. This person greets you with a smile, they look you in the eye, and they carry on a conversation with you and thank you for your business when the transaction is done.

I think most of us would agree that we would rather deal with the second person. They have made excellence a priority in all that they do. Their sense of self worth is not found in their title or their hourly wage, but instead in a job well done.

Sadly, many of us are guilty of being the first person. We spend way too much time looking around to see what everyone else has. We are more concerned about everyone else’s work, without ever taking a critical look at our own work.

For me the greatest thing that has moved me from “slacker” to “striver” is to look at my work through a different lens. As a follower of Jesus, I strive to do everything for His honor and glory. When I began to realize that my actions are a reflection upon Him, and that my work when done to the best of my abilities brings glory to Him…work took on a whole new meaning.

Today, I want to challenge you to work with excellence. No matter how menial or trivial you may think your position in life is, view it as a chance to shine. Be the best at what you do…the world is watching.

Until next Monday, may God’s richest blessings be yours this week.

Carl

Standing with Integrity

Good afternoon! As you may have noticed, this morning’s encouragement did not arrive in a timely manner. As you well know, some Mondays are just that way. I hope that your morning was productive thus far and that your week is off to a great start.

Today I want to share with you the following verse from Proverbs:

Proverbs 10:9 (NLT)
People with integrity have firm footing, but those who follow crooked paths will slip and fall.

Integrity is one of those things we all seek in those we interact with, but sadly it is becoming harder and harder to find. In today’s cut throat world, people will use every means, tactic and scheme to get ahead. Decisions are made in boardrooms all across America without a thought being given to those who are affected in the aftermath.

I often hear those of the “builder” generation talking about a simpler time when a man’s handshake was binding and a promise could be counted on. I was very blessed to have the concept of integrity lived out in front of me. My father has always been a man of his word even when it wasn’t popular or easy. As the years have gone by, I have watched many of his peers and counterparts fall by the wayside, because they were willing to compromise, but in the end my dad stood strong and survived.

People of integrity have firm footing, because they do not shift with opinion, pressure or temptation. A man or woman of integrity is the same whether no one is watching or the whole world is watching. Integrity runs much deeper than action, but is instead a core value that comes from within.

This week many of you will have opportunity to compromise your values, beliefs and morals. This will be a crossroads for you…will you be true to what you believe in or will you bend to conform? Sadly with compromise you may see some temporal gain, but in the long run, your compromise will catch up with you.

A few years ago, my wife and I took a cruise to the Caribbean. For two days we traveled through 13’ waves as we traveled towards our destination. It was amusing to watch people attempt to walk straight as the boat beneath them was buffeted. Try as you might, you were inevitably going to zig-zag. This is what happens when we compromise. It is impossible to take a
stand, when you allow your values and convictions to change.

This week I challenge you to make a commitment to integrity. Commit that no matter how tempting the compromise, you will stand for doing what is right. In the end, your stance will cause you to stand out. People will see you as trustworthy and honest. Your input and influence will carry much more weight, because your character will have proven itself time and time again.

Until next Monday, may God’s richest blessings be yours this week.

Carl

Rainy Days

Good morning! I hope you recharged your batteries this weekend and that your week is off to a great start. This week our local students are out for spring break. This is a time where students take a week off from the daily pressures of school to enjoy some downtime.

Many of the students will be disappointed today, because it has been raining throughout the morning. Rain never seems to come at opportune times, like just after you’ve washed your car.

Rain although not always convenient is always necessary. Look at the following scripture:

Psalm 147:8 (NIV)

He covers the sky with clouds; he supplies the earth with rain and makes grass grow on the hills.

Today I want to focus on rain. Not the meteorological kind of rain, but instead the rains of life. It has been said that “in each life a little rain must fall.” This statement is very true, and yet minimizes the truth. Life doesn’t just come with a little rain, but sometimes it comes with storms and torrential downpours.

So why do we go through these rainstorms of life? Notice in the verse I quoted above that grass grows on the hills because of the rain. Ultimately the rains come into your life to make your life more fertile for the blessings of God. Today I want to focus on a the rains that may be in your life today.

It is important to remember that rain softens the soil. Growing up in Kansas and Oklahoma, I can remember seeing the ground during times of drought. The soil would crack and these cracks would run deep. The crops in the fields would begin to burn and turn brown. The soil was hard and could not be easily tilled or plowed, but when the rains came the soil was transformed. The ground would become soft and pliable. It was easily tilled and the crops flourished. The roots were nurtured by new found sustenance and from the ground the crops drew life.

You see some of the rains we encounter in life are sent to deal with the hardness in our hearts. The rains come to soften the rough edges in our life. God uses these times to make the soil of our hearts fertile for His purposes. As our hearts begin to soften they become pliable and are easily molded. The softening of our heart allows for greater nurture and spiritual health.

This morning you may have awoken to a rain cloud pouring down in your life. If this is true, take heart, be thankful that the rain has come. God is working to soften and mold you, so that your life will be abundantly fruitful.

Until next Monday, may God’s richest blessings be yours this week.

Carl

Unity in Diversity

Good morning! I hope you had an amazing weekend and have hit the ground running this morning. This weekend I was blessed to enjoy some time with my youngest son as we took a tour of the Texas State Aquarium. Those one on one times with each of my children are some of my favorite times.

Over the past two weeks I have had the privilege of leading my church family through a “round table” discussion time as we unpacked everything God had been showing us during our recent 40 days of prayer. It was exciting to see groups of young and old, male and female sharing with one another all that God had been revealing about themselves and about our church. In the end there was a unity of thought and spirit that was unmistakable. It is with this thought that I bring you this morning’s encouragement.

Ephesians 4:1-3 (HCSB)

I, therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, accepting one another in love, diligently keeping the unity of the Spirit with the peace that binds us.

God has created each of us to be unique. There is only one of me; I am not a cookie cutter of anyone else. I have unique gifts, talents and abilities that set me apart. The problem arises though, when I decide that my ideas, direction and passions are the correct ideas, direction and passions for everyone. It is easy to begin to develop this isolationist, “us and them” mentality.

The difference in people is something to be valued and appreciated. Can you imagine going to a symphony concert and only hearing kettle drums play. It might be kind of interesting for a few moments, but at some point it would get annoying. The kettle drum is at its best when it is surrounded and accompanied by the flute, the clarinet, the trumpet, the tuba, the violin and so on.

The introvert needs the extrovert and the leader needs the follower. The communicator needs the doer and the thinker needs the feeler. God has created us to be much like the symphony. We are at our best when we live out the purposes that God has given us to the full extent of our gifts, passions and abilities. When these are combined with those around us who are doing the same, our lives become a beautiful symphony that brings glory to God.

In the end, it is the very Spirit of God that unites us together. It has been said that “the ground is level at the foot of the cross”, simply meaning that we are all equal in the sight of God. No one has greater or less standing, and every life counts.

This week I challenge you to value the diversity of those God has put around you. Their lives bring out the best in you.

Until next Monday, may God’s richest blessings be yours this week.

Carl