“In all the work you are doing, work the best you can. Work as if you were doing it for the Lord. Not for people.” Colossians 3: 23

Colossians 3 helps us to understand what it means to set our minds on things above.  If we set our minds on things above, we will work toward being the exceptional and not the usual or norm.

It takes work to be a Christian, but we are required to work at it so that we might be pleasing unto the Lord and an example to the world.

In studying the book of Acts, there is great concentration on the Holy Spirit. One of the Holy Spirit’s tasks, after moving into a believing heart, is transforming that person into the image of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17) (Romans 8:29. We have the promise that “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion” (Philippians 1:6)  

I think all of us would agree that we are living in an age when just about any and everything goes. Even the church has lowered its expectations and standards to the point that the world is amazed at its compromises. It is time for Christians to be the standard or the exception to the world. We cannot afford to give the devil a foothold. Our standards should be so high and our conviction so strong that nothing should separate us from the love of God. We should live our lives in such a way that it should be the standard or exception that the world will accept and follow. If we become the standard, surely some will rise to be the exception. Excellence makes us exceptional, so let’s be an exceptional Christian. With that being said, let us put forth a concerted effort to do everything according to the will and word of God. 

The Bible tells us “Let all things be done decently and in order.” Scripture says let All things! Would you agree that in many instances we have bypassed doing things in decency and order. In so many instances, there is no order.

God created us in his own image, and we are wonderfully and beautifully made. We should be the exception because we live according to his statutes, laws and commandments. However, we have become almost silent regarding right living. 

Let’s make sure that when others see us, we are living as if we have the almighty God living in us. We must remember that we are his representative and his ambassador. We must ensure that we represent him in such a way that others would embrace him through our actions.

Sometimes it seems as if many around us are compromising their integrity or aligning themselves with the majority. It does not matter whether the majority is wrong or not, we acquiesce to pressures brought on by society. We should be the ones to set the standards of excellent living. We should give the very best that we have in all that we do. It does not matter whether we are rich or poor, whether we are old or young, Black or White, we are to be the very best witness for God that we can be. Even the Supreme Court is under scrutiny. Who in our government can we say are setting standards of excellence for us to live by? 

Romans 12:2 tells us “Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God.”      

The apostle Paul tells us to avoid the chase for pleasure, possessions, and status-to stop living like everybody else. He encourages us to be transformed from the inside out. We must be changed in how we think, to have our minds renewed so that we can begin to understand God’s will for our lives.

Someone recently sent me a poster that read something like this: Go to work tomorrow and tell a person of color “Go back to the country you came from.” Find a coworker with disabilities and mock them for it. Grab a co-worker by its private parts. Call a less attractive co-worker a horseface and a dog. See if you can make it to lunch before you are fired. The point is that we know a person who has done much worse than these actions, yet there is such a following that it is alarming. We all know of a person who has done all of the above on camera, yet there is a possibility he will be elected president. What happened to our morals, our respect and love for one another? What happened to role models? 

God is calling all of us to be a person of excellence in everything we do and speak. God wants us to be the best person we can be. If we put forth a concerted effort to be a model citizen and model Christian, we may be able to see positive changes. May we live and operate in such a fashion that others may see God in us and seek his presence in their lives.

Go to work today as if you are working for the Lord and not man or woman. Set that standard of excellent living for yourself and others. 

Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote: Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.”

Just my thoughts!

Robert Earl Slade, Pastor