Setting a standard of excellence

If you are going to achieve something of excellence, if you want to live a life that is in some way exceptional, it begins with a vision of where you want your life to go.

No one climbs a mountain on accident. No one runs a marathon on a whim.

If you want to live extraordinarily, it will only happen if you are aiming towards something that is also extraordinary.

There was a time in my life that where I was low. I was not willing to dedicate my life towards anything, because I felt like all the possible outcomes of my efforts were just as meaningless as the life I was living. My past was dull. My present was unimpressive. And my future was uninspiring. What was there to live for?

The thing that drew me out of depression, out of despair, was vision.

What filled the vision of my future? God; the Christian God, to be exact.

A.W. Tozer has a great line where he says, “What comes to mind when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”

His thesis is that we tend to grow toward the ultimate aim of which we can conceive.

In other words, if I think my dad is great and I honor how he lives above all other ways of living, chances are I will become like my dad. If I were to honor the life of a famous older theologian, I would study the professor or pastor and work to make my life more like theirs. I want to be a good father, and so I will look to my surroundings and pick up some of the character traits of fathers around me and attempt to be a version of their all collective goodness.

If we become like our ultimate aim, we have to be careful who or what we decide our aim is after. Do you really want to become a version of your parents, a version of the good people that surround you; or could you consider that maybe Jesus offers a better example?

Take Psalm 115 as an example. At the time, other nations worshipped idols that were made by human hands out of stone and wood. How does that god compare to God who made everything by the sound of His voice, the breath of his lungs, who still speaks and moves; all things these idols cannot.

We have made many idols today, not out of stone or wood, but out of relationships, out of entertainers, out of politicians, out of companies.

If we are going to truly pursue excellence, we need to make sure that where we are aiming is truly the highest aim we can consider. What’s better is that Christ has asked you to follow him in pursuing a more excellent way of living.

That does not always mean healthy, wealthy, or happy; but it does mean that Christ has provided a way to experience life to the full if we are connected to him and his story.

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