Vision…right or wrong?
It’s often misused. The Scripture on vision.
Where there is no vision, the people perish….
Proverbs 29:18 KJV
Business and ministry leaders have often quoted that verse and then proceeded to share their vision for the company or the organization. Right…or wrong? At my most generous I would say partly right. Vision is important. And few organizations, corporations, or ministries can move forward without some direction. But is it any old vision? Is it just someone’s good idea? Or is it God’s idea?
That is where we often go wrong in quoting this verse and applying it to moving our ministries forward. We have committees, think tanks, focus groups, or leadership groups that gather and thrash out their vision, including their latest vision statement. To the degree that we don’t consult God and seek His direction, we can be leading our organizations off in the wrong direction with the right purpose in our heart. Sincere…but sincerely wrong.
Henry and Richard Blackaby address this in their book Spiritual Leadership: Moving People on to God’s Agenda:
Vision is crucial for an organization. Its source is God’s revelation of his activity…. When leaders successfully communicate vision to their people, it will be God who sets the agenda for the organization, not the leader, and the people will know it is God.
What do we want to pass on to our people…our best thinking or God’s agenda? They are not automatically the same.
“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.
“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.”
Isaiah 55:8 NLT
Yes, leaders can come up with a vision, but leaders cannot come up with God’s will on their own. It must be revealed by God.
How does the Lord reveal His will and His agenda? Look around. What is God doing in your ministry right now? What have you seen as a leader that was obviously from the Lord? Are you communicating that to your staff? To your leadership? To those who support the ministry work to which God has called you? That is your best way to move people on to God’s agenda. Communication is key.
Again, the Blackabys underscore the importance of communicating as a leader. “You cannot be a poor communicator and a good leader.” And they expand on that thought in their book:
Spiritual leaders don’t just tell stories for the sake of telling stories. They rehearse what God has done, they relate what God is doing, and they share what God has promised to do…. People don’t have to buy into a vision; they simply have to see that God is making a promise.
As I think of all this, I realize that my vision is very limited. I can only see so far. And my imagination is also dwarfed by what God has in mind. Do I want what my finite mind can come up with…or do I want to move toward God’s amazing agenda?
God’s best...
Things not worth doing...
I love the quote from Ken Blanchard and others.
Things not worth doing are not worth doing well.
Have you ever come to the end of the day and wondered what you have accomplished? I have. Oh, sure, I filled my day with “stuff.” But what did that stuff all amount to? Sometimes we obsess on getting something done well that didn’t need to be done at all. Or, could have been done by someone else (probably better).
Blanchard says, “Today people are often busy doing what seems to be extremely urgent but really isn’t. They spend a great deal of time moving paper rather than listening to their people....” (Ken Blanchard, The Heart of a Leader)
Those last four words are key. Listening to their people. So often we are so focused on accomplishing a goal and building a successful ministry that we use our people instead of loving them and letting them feel good about accomplishing the goal. We dictate jobs and set timetables.
So how does a leader actually lead? One important ministry truth is that people need to like the leader they serve. Then they will follow, not out of duty or compliance or a paycheck, but out of a sense of mission set by a someone they admire. John Maxwell talks about the charisma that a leader needs:
“THE GREATEST LEADERS HAVE IT—that special quality that causes people to be drawn to their magnetic personalities.... We all have the potential to develop this quality that makes the difference between personality and personality plus.”
- Be a People Person: Effective Leadership Through Effective Relationships
This doesn’t mean that you have to become something you aren’t. It means you may need to develop some of the areas of your personality that help draw people to you and causes them to want to follow you. Nothing fake here...genuine care and concern for others.
Maxwell goes on to offer this acrostic for the word “charisma:”
- Concern
- Help
- Action
- Results
- Influence
- Sensitivity
- Motivation
- Affirmation
Without going into great detail, these are areas that can be developed in you that will ultimately help your ministry and your people who serve with you. You might examine your personality and style of leadership, then take two or three areas where you could improve. Maybe areas like concern, or sensitivity, or affirmation. What would it mean to your staff if you took time to learn what things outside of work concerned them most? A brief time of prayer with this person about these things would be a great step toward building a better and more productive relationship.
A word of caution. Don’t do this with a sense of manipulation. There has to be real concern for the person and not just what they can do for the ministry. Jesus modeled this in the love and concern He showed for friends like Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. He wept real tears and experienced fellowship and joy with them, too. Then there is John, often referred to as the apostle that Jesus loved. So much so that from the cross Jesus gave the assignment to John to care for His mother Mary, which John faithfully did.
Paul gave his Roman friends this advice: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us (Romans 12:3 NLT).
Eugene Peterson expands on that and the surrounding verse with this:
I’m speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it’s important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him (Romans 12:3 MSG).
If you are at the start of your day as you read this, think of the most important thing you can do today that will show your care and concern for those the Lord has entrusted to you as co-laborers in His work. You may need to go over that To Do list and mark out things you probably shouldn’t be spending your valuable time on anyway.
If it is the close of a busy day, ask yourself, “Did I do the most important things today...or did I just check off the urgent items?”
Then vow moving forward to think of others first and foremost. Remember, there is no virtue in doing well something you shouldn’t be doing at all.
God’s best...
What’s changed?
Has anything changed in the past year? I suspect the answer is a resounding YES! It seems the whole world has adjusted to a new normal due to the global pandemic. Masks. Social distancing. Vaccines. Sheltering and quarantining. These things and more have come to the forefront of our minds and our lifestyles.
So, what about your ministry? How is it different than it was in 2019 before the Covid-19 virus changed our world? I’m not talking about just reacting to the situation...working from home, remote broadcasting, etc. I’m talking about adjusting what you are doing to what the world is doing. How are you communicating the Gospel today to reach people today who need hope today?
Leadership guru John Maxwell put the thought succinctly: “We cannot become what we need by remaining what we are.”
Has the traffic pattern of the lives of your listeners and viewers changed due to the pandemic? What do you need to do now to intersect with them with the hope of Christ? Are there different programs you need to produce? Are their new ways to get the message out? Are we holding on to what we already do because it is comfortable? “We know how to do this...and we aren’t sure how to do something new.” That’s not a good place to be. Again, John Maxwell addresses the idea of change: “To be a leader you must be able to create positive change.”
So...do we just think up stuff on our own? Do we glean from what the rest of the world is doing? Or...do we seek what the Lord would have us do to reach a lost and dying world? Scripture reminds us that the Lord Jesus was not willing that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9). Paul told us he would use any means in order to reach some (1 Corinthians 9:22). That sounds like passion, focus, and creativity...all for the sake of Christ’s Gospel.
And you say, “But I don’t know how to do that. I don’t know if I can do that. I’m not sure I am ‘gifted’ enough to try something new.” You may not be able...but remember, God is able. Dr. Henry Blackaby reminds us that the Lord has a plan and will enable you to accomplish all He wants in and through you.
“Will God ever ask you to do something you are not able to do? The answer is yes—all the time! It must be that way, for God's glory and kingdom. If we function according to our ability alone, we get the glory; if we function according to the power of the Spirit within us, God gets the glory. He wants to reveal Himself to a watching world.”
- Experiencing the Spirit: The Power of Pentecost Every Day by Henry Blackaby
Today, your audience doesn’t need programs. They need Jesus and the power He intends for their lives. Those touched by your ministry don’t need some clever idea. They need the solid truth that there is a God who loves them and a Savior who died so they could live eternally with Him. And for those who embrace that truth...everything changes.
Does that sound hard? It is out of your comfort zone to adjust programming, schedules, and styles for today’s people. J. Oswald Sanders said it well. “The frontiers of the kingdom of God were never advanced by men and women of caution.”
Embrace change. Seek God’s direction daily for your ministry. Keep the audience in mind as you program and produce. Be like the men of Issachar. They understood the times and they knew what should be done (1 Chronicles 12:32).
So... what will change today to reach someone tomorrow?
God’s best...
What have you done for them lately?
One of the seminar sessions I often present is called “The Care and Feeding of Your Staff.” The idea is not to present the great people who are part of your team as pets or animals. The thought is that those in leadership should have the best interest at heart for the ones the Lord has given them for ministry. You as a leader should care for them, encourage them, and support them.
I recently saw some statistics for U.S workers. It’s pretty revealing information about corporate America and may have insight from which we can learn in our areas of leadership.
- 79% of employees will quit their jobs due to a lack of appreciation from leaders.
- 83% of employers agree that it’s crucial to develop their employees’ skills, but only 5% of corporations actually implement these improvements.
- Only 14% of CEOs have the leadership talent they need to grow their businesses.
- 15% of candidates state they turned down job offers due to a negative work culture.
- 70% of employees in the U.S. are unhappy in their jobs due to negative management.
from 21+ Inspiring Leadership Statistics [2020 Edition]
Not a pretty picture. I wonder what the statistics would look like for Christian ministries and organizations? Would it be much different?
God’s Word is clear about giving appropriate compensation for those who work:
For the Scripture says, “You must not muzzle an ox to keep it from eating as it treads out the grain.” And in another place, “Those who work deserve their pay!”
1 Timothy 5:18 NLT
Eugene Peterson has a unique take on this verse. In The Message he looks to verse 17 and starts out with this:
“Give a bonus to leaders who do a good job, especially the ones who work hard at preaching and teaching.”
Dr. Gary Chapman, who spoke at one of our MEDIAlliance Summits, has written a whole book on how to show appreciation to our employees...and it should apply to volunteers who serve in our ministries and organizations, too. Chapman bases the book on his classic “Five Love Languages,” applying them to the environment and relationships in the workplace. The premise is the same. Not everyone has the same “love” language or the same “appreciation” language. But when we can communicate our appreciation in the right language it will have a dramatic effect on those who serves with us. The author says by doing so you should expect great results. The principles taught in The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace will help you lead your team and help you show your genuine care for those entrusted to you by the Lord. One blogger gave this insight about the book:
“Our motivation is maximized when we receive our ideal form of praise, encouragement, or reward for our efforts. Since it is the job of a manager, leader, or boss to not only keep the company or department running but also to keep up a happy workforce; understanding what makes individuals tick is crucial for helping the bottom line.”
- 15five blog
A good exercise might be to take 30 minutes at the beginning of this week and write down ways you can show real appreciation to your team, both as a group and individually. Challenging? Yes. But worth the time spent in caring for and serving your team.
Prayer. Is it on your to-do list?
When do you pray? How often do you pray? And what kinds of things do you pray about? I’m not trying to probe into your life…but just wanted to get you thinking about the role prayer plays in your daily routine.
At our breakfast table, Judy and I read from a devotional book. In the evening, we read through books of the Bible. A while back a Billy Graham thought on prayer impacted me. He talked about the privilege of prayer, and then began to list the times we are to pray.
- We are to pray in times of adversity, lest we become faithless and unbelieving.
- We are to pray in times of prosperity, lest we become boastful and proud.
- We are to pray in times of danger, lest we become fearful and doubting.
- We are to pray in times of security, lest we become self-sufficient.
Wow. It sounds like prayer ought to be our daily priority. I can tell you that over these past months as my wife has struggled with multiple surgeries, I have prayed. I have prayed in petition to God. I have prayed thanking God. I have prayed for the Lord’s guidance for surgeons. I have later prayed with the surgeons and let them know people around the world were praying. And Judy and I have felt the prayers of our many friends. Prayer is not theoretical...it is our lifeline to the Father.
Oswald Chambers once said, “The only way to get into the relationship of ‘asking’ is to get into the relationship of absolute reliance on the Lord Jesus.” Have you been there? Have you agonized in prayer...and rejoiced in prayer? Chambers also said, “Prayer does not prepare you for the greater work; it is the greater work.”
And we are confident that he hears us
whenever we ask for anything that pleases him.1 John 5:14 NLT
We need to pray more, not less…according to His will, with confidence in the One who hears and answers our prayers. Let prayer be your greatest work today.
How Far Can You See?
I was looking at computers and printers the other day and noticed the tag phrase for the Epson brand.
Exceed Your Vision
That started me down a thought path. Exceed your vision. See farther than you can see. What does that mean? I thought of the “flat earth” people who only see to the horizon and deduce the earth is flat. (My international air travel tells me differently.)
What does it take to exceed your vision? First, it takes faith. You have to believe there is something “out there” that you can’t see...yet. Something that will carry you farther along life’s path. From a biblical standpoint, it means trusting in a God who is already out there, seeing the beginning from the end. As the Lord revealed to Isaiah,
"Only I can tell you the future before it even happens..."
Isaiah 46:10a NLT
In practical terms, what does that phrase mean today for you and for those you lead in ministry? It should be a revolutionary thought that removes the man-made boundaries to what God is calling you to do and to be.
Exceed your vision...
We are sometimes asked, “If money were no object, what would you do?” Well, first, it is rare...especially in ministry...when money is no object. But the idea is to do what the Epson brand proclaims. Exceed your vision.
I know a church that invested heavily in media facilities and infrastructure several years before the pandemic forced everyone online. When the church doors were shut, the media door swung widely open. Recently, the pastor revealed that on the previous Sunday over 700 thousand watched the Sunday live streams of the worship services. By God’s direction, they exceeded their own vision.
Is there something beyond your vision right now? Is the Lord leading you to take steps in ministry or in life that don’t make sense if we are only seeing through today’s eyes? Abram in the Old Testament experienced this. God said “go,” not saying where. And Abram went, taking his whole family to a foreign land. He trusted that the Lord who spoke to him had something in the future that exceeded Abram’s vision in that day.
Author and inspirational speaker Simon Sinek says, “Great leaders must have two things: a vision of the world that does not yet exist and the ability to communicate that vision clearly.”
We live in a communication age. We as leaders...no matter who we lead...need to be able to bring others along toward that vision, even when they cannot see it clearly. And as Christian leaders, we have the added responsibility to move others to God’s agenda, the ultimate vision for all of us.
Drs. Henry and Richard Blackaby wrote a book on spiritual leadership. In it they talk about how important it is for a leader to know where the Lord is leading.
It’s surprising how many leaders settle for managing the day-to-day operations of their organization with no comprehensible idea of where God is leading them. Every decision is a step toward a destination.
Spiritual Leadership, Henry and Richard Blackaby
So, what is the destination the Lord has before you? What lies over the horizon for your ministry...for you...for your family? Are you willing to obey God’s direction toward something you cannot see yet? Are you willing to be obedient to His call in your life as a leader?
Exceed your vision...and move others toward what the Spirit of the Lord is leading you in ministry.
God’s best...
Say YES to NO!
There are seasons in life and in ministry. Sometimes you feel you are slogging through the mud. Other times, all is working smoothly, ministry is moving, and people are blessed. I remember years like that over my many decades of media ministry. Good things were happening. Others were excited about what they saw. Requests would come in to do this, speak there, meet with these folks, lead this workshop, serve on this committee...and on and on. Most of the time...I said YES. It was as if the word “no” wasn’t in my vocabulary.
To be honest, I haven’t progressed too far down the road, but I have learned there is nothing wrong with saying no to something that is not a priority. It isn’t easy. And it is even harder to do without guilt when it is a good friend or colleague who is asking.
Recently, my friend Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth helped me better understand the whole concept of saying no in a devotional from her book, The Quiet Place. Your own to-do list is usually augmented by the to-do list others have for you...especially if you are in leadership.
“There will seldom be enough time in a twenty-four-hour day for you to do everything that is on your to-do list. For sure, there will never be enough time for everything that is on everyone else’s list for your life! You can’t spend time with every person who wants to talk, read all the books you’d like, and tackle every project you’re interested in....”
So, what is the secret? How do you prioritize things that all seem like a priority? The answer is found in the life of Jesus. He didn’t do everything others wanted Him to do. He didn’t heal everyone, feed everyone, calm every storm, or raise every dead person to life. So... what was His guiding principle? Jesus did what His Father had for Him to do. He had God’s to-do list...His priority. In Jesus’ priestly prayer to His Heavenly Father found in John 17, the Lord said,
“I brought glory to you here on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.”
John 17:4 NLT
Did you see that? Jesus said He did what His Father gave Him to do. Great insight for us today.
There will be many demands on you, your time, your talent, your knowledge, your energy. Which among them is God’s will for you? Which ones are obviously part of the Lord’s plan for you? More importantly, which ones...though good things to do...are NOT in His will for you? Setting the parameters and priorities according to the Lord’s plan will make saying no a bit easier. As Nancy Wolgemuth says, “All you have to do is the work God assigns to you. And believe it or not, there is always time (and grace) to do everything that is on His to-do list for you.”
I still struggle with saying no, but I continue to work on it. Why don’t you join me in seeking God’s priority and focusing on that first and foremost? Yes...I think I still need to work on that these days in my own life and ministry.
Who are you?
Do you ever get that question? If I asked you to take out a piece of paper and write down in bullet-point form the things that identify you, what would you write? What would be at the top?
Several years ago, I was in a high-level meeting between a pastor of a large church and the head of a major Christian university. After a few minutes of visiting, the head of the university looked at the pastor and said, “Now, who are you?” Kind of awkward. In his defense, the university president had just come back from vacation and didn’t have time to get briefed on who his visitors were.
What would you have said? Most of us would have given our credentials as to our leadership role in a key church in a major city. But would that have been the most important way to identify ourselves?
A recent devotional from Lead Like Jesus reminds us of the right perspective we should have as leaders.
“It can be easy to forget, especially if we hold formal leadership positions, that being a leader is not our identity or calling. We are first children of God, called to follow Jesus.”
John Maxwell says, "Leadership is not about titles, positions or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another."
It is interesting to read the Facebook profiles of people and see how they describe themselves. Many, rightly, begin with their relationship with Christ, then go on to list other ways they can be identified. But not everyone does that.
Our identity is important. We need to get it right. Jesus entered into the conversation of some of his disciples as they discussed what others were saying about who Jesus was. Jesus looked at them...Peter in particular...and asked, “But who do you say I am?” (italics added)
If our identity is bound up in what we do, then we open ourselves up to failure, and, often, a spiritual spiral downward. There will be times when we fail, when our team fails, when we and our good intentions are misunderstood. We need to hide our identity in God’s grace, not in our own achievements.
In his book Transforming Grace, Jerry Bridges gives great insight on this key area for leaders.
“Living by grace instead of by works means you are free from the performance treadmill. It means God has already given you an “A” when you deserved an “F.” He has already given you a full day’s pay even though you may have worked for only one hour. It means you don’t have to perform certain spiritual disciplines to earn God’s approval. Jesus Christ has already done that for you. You are loved and accepted by God through the merit of Jesus, and you are blessed by God through the merit of Jesus. Nothing you ever do will cause Him to love you any more or any less. He loves you strictly by His grace given to you through Jesus.”
Let me ask you, what is the overarching identifying trait of your life? Who do your friends say you are? What does your family say when asked about you? What would Jesus say?
The Apostle Paul was well aware of his position. Christ was primary. He was secondary, at best. Eugene Peterson’s The Message puts it this way:
I identified myself completely with him (Christ). Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not “mine,” but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
So, who are you?
Don't Waste the Crisis
A few years back a fundraising organization was taken to task for advising ministries to take advantage of a specific crisis to gain financial support for the ministry. The message came across as “use someone’s crisis to your financial advantage.” That’s is NOT what I am suggesting today.
However, sometimes we do waste a crisis by not understanding what God is up to. The Lord has always had a plan for accomplishing His will and His purpose. Nothing happens by chance. Not even a global pandemic. God was not caught by surprise when Covid-19 began its initial surge of infections. He is not taken back by recent resurgences of the virus in many countries around the globe. God always has a plan. Our goal should be to discover how we can be part of His plan...how we can further the Lord’s cause...how we can see God’s will accomplished in those around us.
So, what about the crisis? I should make that plural. We are seeing crisis after crisis in our world, with the pandemic leading the way. Many of the countries where we have ministry partners are among the worst in the world when it comes to this resurgence of the Covid virus and its variations. India, Brazil, Romania, Turkey...to name just a few. And the United States is also near the top. Yet along with that are places dealing with floods, earthquakes, and other perils. We just returned a few weeks ago from Ukraine having dealt with extensive Covid protocols all along the way. But the big story in Ukraine is the 20,000 Russian troops massing on the eastern border, and the buildup of Ukrainian troops to try to provide a defense for their people. It has been only six years since Russia “annexed” the formerly Ukrainian area of Crimea. Crisis.
What is my point? There is one singular thing that stands out to me.
The need for hope.
When a close friend dies from Covid, we are rightly concerned with our own health and the health of friends and family. When the enemy across the border begins to rattle their sabers, we look for a sense of safety and wellbeing in that crisis. We need hope.
Those of us who know Christ as Lord and Sovereign over all recognize that our only hope in this sin-sick world is Jesus. What has come to me again and again is the need to see these times of uncertainty and peril as opportunities for the Gospel. The Apostle Paul was chained to Roman guards, yet still shared of his hope to all who would listen. We need to emulate that kind of spirit in our lives.
My wife has dealt with multiple medical challenges over the past eight months. Yet she embraces the spirit of Peter when he said,
“...you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it.”
1 Peter 3:15 NLT
At a restaurant the other night, struggling with memory issues and a lack of full mobility, Judy was soon talking to the manager, learning of health issues with his mother, and promising to pray for her. Ready to share the hope.
Are you struggling these days? You can either turn inward and see your problems...or you can turn outward and see the opportunity to touch the lives around you with God’s promise of peace, His promise to never leave us, and His promise to save all who turn to Him in sincerity and humility.
You may be in a crisis. But it doesn’t have to be all about you. You can see the needs of others and share with them the only thing of lasting value today...the hope and salvation found in Jesus our Lord. You will be amazed how much smaller your crisis will become.
...If There Be Any Excellence...
Excellence is a difficult thing to define. Even the dictionary struggles. Webster’s tries to nail down the meaning of excellence this way: “...the quality of being excellent.” That doesn’t help a lot. Yet most of us know what excellence is when we see it.
I just returned from Ukraine where Kyle Gilbert and I were part of a media conference organized by our friends at Novomedia. One of the sessions I led was on the topic of excellence. A well-known American football coach, Vince Lombardi, expressed great wisdom with his thoughts on the topic.
“Perfection is not attainable. But if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence.”
As leaders in ministries and Christian organizations, it often falls to us to push the team to do their best in order to achieve the most. I often think of the title of the book of devotionals by Oswald Chambers. My Utmost for His Highest. What a great phrase to capture what we should be about in our ministry, our work, our families, and our lives.
Here are four keys to excellence:
- Consistency – Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, said “Excellence is not an act, it’s a habit.” Strive consistently for excellence and soon you will be developing a habit of great accomplishments.
- Improvement – we need a heart to constantly get better. A successful college baseball coach asks his players to get one percent better every day. That’s a good start towards excellence.
- Creativity – Our Lord is a creative God, and we are made in His likeness. We have creativity within us. No doubt it is seen better in some than others, but we all have the ability to break new ground and find innovative ways to solve problems.
- Going the extra mile – Someone has said that responsible people do what is expected of them. Excellent people routinely do more than asked.
Ryan Denison of the Denison Forum recently wrote on excellence. “There is something about the pursuit of excellence that is easy for people to notice and appreciate, regardless of the context in which it occurs. Perhaps it is easier to recognize when it comes to music, athletics, or other more public displays, but the principle applies to our work, our relationships, and our personal pursuits as well.” He goes on to look at the life of Daniel in the Old Testament as an example. He lived a life of excellence that was quickly noted by Nebuchadnezzar.
The Apostle Paul reminded the believers in Colossae that our best efforts...our excellence...is in service to our Savior.
Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.
Colossians 3:23 NLT
Along with the obvious reason for pursuing excellence in our Christian life, there are other benefits. Again, the great football coach Vince Lombardi made a profound statement worth pondering and retaining in our minds.
“The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.”
God is honored when we serve Him with excellence. Other lives are impacted by the effort we exhibit toward excellence in ministry. And the quality of our own lives is enhanced by our commitment to excellence.
It sounds like we all gain from a life of excellence. And the Lord is honored. Oswald Chambers sums it up this way:
“Worship is giving God the best He has given to you. Be careful what you do with your best.”
