01 May Excellent but Humble – May 11

By: Yosia Yusuf

WHY is it important to have an excellent Spirit?

Back in my first year of college, one of my Professors inspired me to be excellent in life. He mentioned how crucial it is to do our best at everything. “Every time my name is written on paper, I want it to be the best I can do” It’s important to have this attitude as our names carry a lot of weight that we might not realize. Our names carry with it our identity, our self worth and our value.

As a Christian, our names not only represent ourselves, but also Him who sends us. The Bible calls us ‘ambassadors for Christ’ which mean we are representing Him in all we do. Therefore our standard of His life ought to represent the standard of His kingdom.

“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us a new in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.” Ephesians 2:10, NLT.

As God’s masterpiece, we exist to bring glory to Him. Living our life with excellent spirit will shine the light to Christ’s work in us. Being excellent is not about getting ahead in life. It is about doing our best and being faithful in little things so that His love will shine out of our life.

Exclusive to congregations (exclude pastors, ushers and RSMB team) you could get a KitKat if you read this. Collect it from the secretariat desk (while stocks last)!

HOW can I be excellent yet humble at the same time?

Our first human tendency when we did something good is take the credit for ourselves. After all, being excellent requires our hard work, our time and our effort. Therefore we think that it’s only normal to see ourselves as the reason for our achievement.

“For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?” 1 Corinthians 4:7, ESV.

Paul’s answer to our question is to realize that everything we have is a gift from God. All our goodness is a product of His grace working in us. If we understand that everything we have is a product of His grace, then we have nothing to boast about. Grace leads us to humility, knowing that everything we have is given to us by Christ’s death on the cross.

“And because of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians1:30-31, ESV