Strive For Excellence (5)

We have considered some important points on the subject of striving for excellence. The points we have highlighted so far have been:

a.      Striving for excellence is not a desire for superiority over others

b.  While striving for excellence, have a disposition that views excellence as a direction and not a final destination

c.    Striving for excellence for God’s people should be done with a realization that we have a divine seed of excellence

From this week, I would like to share some important internal attitudes that are required in striving for excellence.

1.      Determination

I often come across people who are highly talented and even many who are very skilled or gifted. Some are even more educated than their peers but sadly they do not excel. I have found that in a number of such cases, what is lacking is determination.

I took the liberty to look up that word in different dictionaries and I found a number of insightful definitions:

“A quality that makes you continue trying to do or achieve something that is difficult” (Merriam Webster)

“A positive emotion that involves persevering towards a difficult goal in spite of obstacles” (Wikipedia)

“The act of deciding definitively and firmly, firm or fixed intention to achieve a desired end” (Webster)

The simplest of the definitions was from the Urban Dictionary which defined determination as “simply not giving up”

Desire many times is not enough to sustain us as we strive for excellence. Talent, ability or giftedness is also not enough. Education and training alone are also not enough. It requires determination. There are usually obstacles and challenges along the path as we try to give expression to God’s seed of excellence and this is what makes it necessary for us to be determined about it.

Sometimes, the discouragement is from people around especially when a culture of mediocrity has been woven into the fabrics of such societies. Attempts to strive for excellence are usually suppressed in such environments because people would like the status quo to be maintained. Some would hurl insults, scorn and sometimes even take steps to subvert the efforts.

Going back again to Daniel as one of the prime examples of God’s people who had remarkable success as a product of striving for excellence, one thing stands out quite early in the Old testament narrative of his life. Daniel 1:8 says he “determined that he would not defile himself with the king’s food…” And he must have needed a good deal of determination to navigate the intrigues of the King’s magicians, sorcerers, enchanters and astrologers.

Andrae Crouch (July 1942 – January 2015) is regarded as the “father of modern day gospel music”, leaving us with lyrics and music that continue to reach people all over the world. Some of his well-known songs are “Jesus is the answer” and “Soon and very soon”.

Many of us however, do not realize that Andrae Crouch had a learning disability called dyslexia. Determined not to allow the dyslexia limit him, Crouch learnt more with drawings and images rather than words. He would begin the song writing process by drawing a picture of what he wanted the song to sound like and he used his visual skills to write dozens of songs and thus overcame the obstacle of difficulty with spellings of words.

In 1967, a young lady (17 year old at that time) had a diving accident that left her quadriplegic in a wheelchair. Joni Eareckson Tada (now aged 66) in spite of this is an author, artist, singer, radio personality and an advocate for the disabled. During her rehabilitation after the accident, Joni spent long hours learning how to paint with a brush between her teeth. She can also write this way. Her high-detail fine art paintings are much sought-after and collected. She has also written over 50 books. According to her autobiography, she experienced anger, depression, suicidal thoughts and doubts during the two years of rehabilitation yet she emerged with new skills and has gone on to abound further.

I encourage you dear friends as we strive for excellence, be determined. Do not give up no matter the challenges in your path. Do not settle for anything less than what God has called you to. Approach it with determination, not an outward sensational expression but an internal attitude of tenacity. Be determined to excel!

To be continued…