Excellence is worth pursuing as faithful stewards of what God has entrusted to us. We should make every effort to redeem and bring out the best in whatever work our hands find to do. But grace must also accompany this pursuit of excellence so that we don’t become enslaved to it.
Of course, we should not be sloppy in the work God has given us. And there’s often more we can do to continue refining and improving our efforts. For instance, great athletes or musicians don’t stop practicing their skills and continue to improve even after professional success is obtained. Likewise, we can spend a lifetime getting better at whatever it is we do.
But our quest for excellence should still be marked with grace.
Being unrelenting in our pursuit of better doesn’t mean we never give ourselves a break. There’s more to life than perfecting our work and much wisdom in allowing things to be good enough for now.
Without giving up our efforts to make things better, this is simply allowing things to remain undone for a time and focusing on the other important matters of life.
For example, we choose sleep, or quality time with our family and friends, or simply anything else as a way to practice freedom and open our eyes to the rest of life. Our soul is worth more than an isolating pursuit of perfection.
In short, we count the cost and don’t let our blind pursuit of something good cause us to neglect our other duties and responsibilities in life. An idol of good things is still an idol that must be brought down.
Seek excellence in everything God has given you to do. And allow grace to keep this in proper perspective without losing your freedom.
Photo by Gursimrat Ganda on Unsplash
