How Are You Progressing in Your Quest for Personal Excellence?

The question I want to ask, are you in danger of being mediocre? Are you in danger of settling for mediocrity? Nobody wants to be called mediocre. Nobody wants to settle for... I shouldn't say nobody. That's not true. Plenty of people settle for mediocrity. But we don't want to settle, and nobody in the church should want to settle for mediocrity. We've seen the examples of the employee. You've seen them, I've seen them.

You go to a store or maybe a restaurant. Let's go pre-COVID days. And you see the employees who come to work doing as little as possible, expecting as much pay as possible, demanding that they have the same kind of pay that maybe their parents currently have. The parents who've been working for the last 40 or 50 years. We live in an entitlement mentality, an entitlement society, where people simply feel, well, we deserve this.

We deserve that. And of course, the TV ads tell people what they deserve, and people want to go into that. Now, lest anybody think, I'm just talking about young people. There are plenty of good examples of young people who have a great work ethic within Mary's family. She's got two nephews. One is a landscape architect. He has a business where he's got, I think, eight greenhouses. He's got a beautiful store. He's got, I know, 13 or 16 employees. He's doing very nicely, very, you know, doing very nicely.

And another one of Mary's nephews is a window washer. Now, that doesn't tell the whole story because he has, I think, again, something like 15 or 16 employees. But each of those window washers has their own company vehicle. And some of those vehicles are used to do high-rises. It's not just ground level or second story. It's the big ones. He made such a good amount of money doing that. He started owning some storage units, you know, those outside storage units. Candlemaking, his wife took up candlemaking because he was told by his money man that he had to find some outlet for all this money that was coming in.

So his wife started a candlemaking business. That became such a real going concern as well. He bought a laundromat. This second fella never went to college. He wouldn't settle for mediocrity. The other fella did go to college. He's a landscape architect. Brethren, the bad news is that mediocrity is contagious. We see it too often in our society. Mediocrity isn't something that's forced upon us. We bring it on ourselves. Now, if we were to define being mediocre, what does it mean? Very simply, being mediocre means to be barely adequate.

Barely adequate. Now, I want to read a section of an article that I saw. I gave this in Chicago. You may remember this. I gave this in Chicago, I think it was two years ago. But I've never given this here in Beloit. In the article, it was written by Frank Sonnenberg. The title of his article was, Mediocre Behavior is a Choice. He wrote this on, posted it on February 13, 2018. Now, who is this Frank Sonnenberg? Let me tell you a little bit about him.

Frank Sonnenberg is an award-winning author. He's written seven books in over 300 articles. He was recently named one of America's top 100 thought leaders and one of America's most influential small business experts. Frank has served on several boards and has consulted with some of the largest and most respected companies in the world. Additionally, Frank Sonnenberg Online was named among the best 21st century leadership blogs among the top 100 socially shared leadership blogs. Now, he wrote, and I'm not going to give you all this, five common habits of mediocre people.

Let me give you 15 common habits of mediocre people. Let me just go through a few of these. And you can ask yourself, where you stack up with this? Lack of accountability. Mediocrity rears its ugly head when people have a poor attitude. A lack of accountability was number one on his list.

Number five on his list was people who have low expectations. They set the bar really low. You set the bar low so that you're pleased with mediocre performance. Number ten on his list. People who want to get something for nothing. The reward is based on tenure rather than merit, so there's no incentive to keep up with the time to go the extra mile. They just want a long time. Number twelve on his list was lack of commitment. Here he used the example, you dip your toe in the water because you're afraid to go all in.

Are we afraid to go all in? Number thirteen on his list was people who crave acceptance. Where people lower their personal standards when social acceptance become a member of the of the in crowd. Number fifteen on his list of fifteen traits of mediocre people was apathy. Apathy. You've been underperforming for so long, you don't even recognize excellence anymore. Now, I did all of that. Now, let me finish the article.

I'll give you a hint of myself a little bit. He writes, Mr. Sandberg writes at the end of this article, and I quote, Just as exercise conditions your body and makes you stronger and more resilient, the same holds true for your mindset. When there are no consequences for mediocre behavior, you can easily be lulled into a false sense of security, believing that mediocrity doesn't matter.

The problem is, when you think you're fooling the world, you're only kidding yourself. One day, when it's important for you to put your best foot forward, you'll learn that your skills have atrophied and you've lost your edge. You'll come to realize you've been coasting for so long that mediocrity isn't just a bad habit, it's who you are.

Brethren, we've not been called to mediocrity. We've been called to a life of excellence.

I don't care whether you're a stay-at-home mom, a homemaker, a factory worker, a white-collar type, or retired. Whatever we do, we are to strive for excellence. That brings me to my point today. So if you want to write something across the top of your paper, here is my point. It's in the form of a question. Question is this. How are you progressing in your quest for personal excellence?

How are you progressing in your quest for personal excellence?

So, under that theme, point number one.

Point number one. We are called to a life of excellence. We are called to a life of excellence.

We're not called to a life of mediocrity. Just getting by, just putting in time. We are called to a life of excellence. Let's take a look at Hebrews chapter 3 and verse 1. Hebrews chapter 3 and verse 1. Hebrews chapter 3 and verse 1. Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the apostle and high priest of our confession, Christ Jesus. Notice the wording here. Holy brethren, consider Christ Jesus. The word holy means to be set apart. We are set apart to consider Jesus Christ. Was Jesus Christ mediocre in anything? Did Jesus Christ ever settle for mediocrity? Isn't Jesus Christ our leader in all things, our example in all things? We're told about what we're working toward a heavenly calling.

This calling comes from God Himself. Our calling is to become like God Himself.

God dwells in excellence.

God is a being of excellence. As result, this calling is a calling to a life of excellence.

We've been called to a life of excellence. No matter what your status is in life, again, you can be a stay-at-home mom or retired or whatever. Whatever God calls you to do, you do it with your might. You do it with excellence. You don't just do things to get by.

Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 18.

Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 18.

The eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints. Look at that. Ephesians 1, 18. The hope of His calling. The believer's hope is not a vague feeling. It's not a vague feeling It's not a vague feeling. The future will be positive. It's a complete assurance that God is going to do all that He's promised. He's going to give you and I an excellent future, an excellent future for all eternity. Notice there in Ephesians 1, 18, it talks about the riches of the glory. Here are pictures of the highest value of this inheritance. It is rich, a rich inheritance. It's a glorious inheritance. It is an excellent inheritance. This is what God offers to us. Now, maybe I'm being a little bold here in Wisconsin, but I'm going to quote a fella that most people in Wisconsin have heard of. His name is Vince Lombardi. I think other people, other than Wisconsin people, have heard of Vince Lombardi. I'm quoting now Vince, quote, We are going to relentlessly chase perfection, knowing full well we will not catch it, because nothing is perfect. But we are going to relentlessly chase it, because in the process, we will catch excellence. So Vince's thoughts where we are going to work toward it, and as we work toward it, we're going to learn about it. We're going to be better for it. We're going to have a more excellent walk with God. Not that we're perfect, but we'll have a more excellent, notice the phrasing, a more excellent walk with God. So, brethren, you and I are called to a life of excellence. How are we progressing? Think about that. In the coming weeks, how are we progressing? How are you progressing? How am I progressing in our quest for personal excellence? Point number one was we are called to a life of excellence. Point number two, is we're going to see the import of excellence from God's point of view. The import of excellence from God's point of view.

We know, and you are aware, that many times God uses the physical to teach us spiritual lessons. From one end of the scriptures to the other, we see physical teaching us important spiritual lessons. Passover, for example. We've got the bread. We've got the wine. The bread representing the body of Christ. The wine representing the blood of Christ. During the days of unleavened bread, we remove leaven, a type of sin. We eat unleavened bread, a type of righteousness. We're getting out the sin and bringing in the righteousness of God. On the day of atonement, we do something physical. We fast. We see how frail we are and how much we have in terms of need.

So God has a view of excellence that we need to make sure we're understanding. In our study of the book of Isaiah, we noted the overall purpose of Bible prophecy is to encourage us to change. Why does God have, you know, some people said, one-third of the Bible's prophecy. Why do we have so much prophecy? Well, one of the great reasons is the overall purpose of Bible prophecy is to encourage us to change. To see where we need to change, where we can pursue excellence. Let's turn to Revelation chapter 21, taking a look at this future, this excellent future God gives us. Revelation chapter 21.

Revelation 21 verse 1. Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. God the Father designed and constructed in excellence this new Jerusalem.

Whatever God does, it's excellent. Whatever man does is obviously flawed to some degree.

But God designed and constructed this new Jerusalem in excellence. We drop down to verse 11.

Having the glory of God, her light was like the most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. So this new Jerusalem has the glory of God. Again, excellence is underscored here.

Now, let's look at verses 18 through 21. We see the building materials, the construction materials. Verse 18, The construction of its wall was of jasper, and the city was pure gold like clear glass. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalodony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh crystallite, the eighth burl, the ninth topaz, the tenth crystal praise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls. Each gate was of one pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold like transparent glass. Now, people say, well, is that literal or is this artistic? In one sense, brethren, it doesn't really matter, because what God is showing us here is His desire for excellence, the most beautiful, precious gems, gold.

From the perspective that God has, He wants only the finest. And, of course, that not only means physically, because God is more involved, more into where we are spiritually.

Are we spiritually progressing in our quest for personal excellence? That's a question we need to be asking ourselves.

We should be pursuing excellence, a superior quality of life in preparation for our role. We're going to be kings and priests, right? We went to the Feast of Tabernacles. We heard about being kings and priests. We were told about all the great things we can be doing in terms of helping people and healing people and all that sort of thing. Well, that means we need to be an example, an example of excellence. So, point number two, the import of excellence in God's view.

Point three, we are fortunate in that we have mentors of excellence. Mentors of excellence, our Father God and our elder brother Jesus Christ.

Third point, we've got mentors of excellence, our Father and our elder brother.

A mentor is a wise and trusted counselor or teacher, an influential senior sponsor or supporter. None is better than God Almighty and Jesus Christ, our elder brother.

Let's take a look at Luke chapter 24 for a second. We were in the sermonette in the book of Luke, but let's go back to Luke.

Luke chapter 24.

You know, for years and years, I used to talk about how Paul wrote more of the New Testament than anybody else. And for years and years, I was wrong.

Acts, which we're going through right now in our Bible study, is the longest book in the New Testament. No, excuse me, Luke is the longest book in the New Testament. Acts is the third longest book. When you combine the two, Luke wrote more than anybody else. According to Expositor's Bible commentary, Luke wrote 30% of the New Testament. And when you think about the Gospel of John, the book of Revelation, John's three epistles, that's saying something in terms of what Luke had to write about. But here in Luke chapter 24, let's look at verse 44. Luke 24, 44. Then he said to them, These are the words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which are written in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the Psalms concerning me. So what we see here in verse 44, the Jews divide the Old Testament into three portions. You see those three portions here. The law, the prophets, and the Psalms. Now, the Psalms many times, sometimes it's called the Psalms because that's the first book in that section. Another way of referring to that section is the writings. The writings. The law, the prophet, and the writings. Or the law, the prophets, and the wisdom literature. That last section could be called wisdom literature. You know, the purpose of the writings or the Psalms is to teach us valuable lessons contained within the writings section of the Old Testament that we talked about as the wisdom books are these books. Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Solomon, Ecclesiastes, and Job. That's in that last section. Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Solomon, Ecclesiastes, and Job. God wants people to have wisdom, and God gives us a book on wisdom. It's that last section called the wisdom literature, or the Psalms, or the writings. Let's take a look at John 6 and verse 45. We often quote verse 44, but let's look at John 6 and verse 45. John 6 and verse 45. It is written in the prophets, and they shall all be taught by God, taught by God, mentored by God. So God is a teacher. Christ is a teacher. They're mentors.

Let's take a look at John 17 and verse 8.

John 17 and verse 8.

John 17, 8. For I have given to them the words which you have given me, and they have received them, and have known surely that I have come forth from you, and they have believed that you sent me. Notice that very first phrase. For I have given to them the words which you have given me. God gave Christ the words. Christ gave us the words. Every word in Scripture is placed where God wants it to be placed.

There's no waste. There's everything is useful. Everything is worship. You know, the great designer of the universe, the great creator of the universe, created a book that we call the Bible. And God designed and created a book that has, as a large section of the Old Testament, understanding about wisdom. How to live our lives, mentoring us so we can achieve our quest for personal excellence. Now, let me take a couple of moments here and go through each of these five books and tell you what the basis is for each of these five books. Psalms. Psalms give us the heart and feeling of God's law. You want to put it, encapsulate it in one easy little sentence. The Psalms give us the heart and feeling of God's law. Certainly, as we read the Psalms of David, for example, we see a lot of heart in there. We see emotion, the richness of emotion, about God and His ways and His law. God's law is an expression of His character, revealed in Scripture as love. The book of Psalms, in particular, gives the whole heart, the feeling, the approach one needs to have towards God's law.

The Psalms express every emotion the believer encounters in life.

Be a praise and love for God, anger at those who practice violence and deceit, personal grief, confusion, and so on. So the Psalms give us the heart and feeling of God's law.

Proverbs written by one of the wisest individuals who ever walked the face of this earth. Sometimes the sermonette and fellows will come to me and say, I don't know what I can talk about. Every proverb is a sermonette. Frankly, every proverb can be a sermon.

Proverbs not only examines moral issues, it helps us deal with ordinary matters of life. Proverbs is a roadmap for how to properly go through life with God's help. When people come to me and say, I wish I was wiser, I say, just keep on reading the Proverbs over and over and over again. Never stop. You may have your main study that you've got, but take a look up. Read just a couple of three Proverbs, two or three verses every night, and just keep on doing that all your life long.

Then you've got the Book of Ecclesiastes.

Ecclesiastes is one of five books called the Megaloth. Those five books are the Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther. All five of these books were read by the Jewish people at certain times of the year.

Song of Solomon was read during Passover season. Why would that be? What is the main issue there in the Song of Psalms? Song of Psalms. It's a man talking about how much he loves his bride.

So it's easy to see why that is read at Passover time.

During Pentecost, which is a harvest season, spring harvest, the Book of Ruth is read, because that's what's taking place in the Book of Ruth. It's a time of harvest. Lamentations is read on the 9th of Ab, A.B. The 9th of Ab.

Why is the book called Lamentations read on that date? Because the Temple was twice destroyed. And that day, the 9th of Ab, represents that destruction. The 9th of Ab actually represents a lot of things that went wrong with Israel at different times in their history. So they collectively decided to use the 9th of Ab to designate that.

Then we come to the Book of Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes talks about wealth. It talks about all these wonderful things that the individual had, who was writing the book, that we believe Solomon. So obviously, the atmosphere is kind of a festive atmosphere. Where plenty was available. So the Book of Ecclesiastes was read during the Feast of Tabernacles. And of course, lastly, you've got the Book of Esther. Esther. Which is read on Purim.

Purim.

Showing where God delivered a whole race of people.

And the Jews particularly love the Book of Esther. They particularly love Purim because that gives them encouragement. Knowing that they will find a deliverer, the ultimate deliverer.

They don't accept the fact of his first coming. But they still long for that deliverer. So the Book of Ecclesiastes is part of the wisdom literature. Then you've got the Book of Job.

What's the point of the Book of Job? The point... There are many points. I shouldn't just try to coalesce it to one. But one of the great points of the Book of Job is to show that God is ultimately going to reward those who put their trust in him.

God is going to reward those who put their trust in him and live as he directs.

In the end, all believers who suffer will be richly rewarded.

So this is what's on God's mind. So God, even through the way he's designed the Bible, is mentoring us in excellence. Christ is mentoring us in excellence. That's point number three. Point number four. Point number four. God equips us to strive for excellence.

God equips us to strive for excellence. I want you to turn over to something we studied in the past. We'll take a brief look at it here. That's in Daniel chapter 5.

The famous handwriting on the wall section of Scripture. Daniel chapter 5.

The background to this section of Scripture is that there's a new king sitting on the throne of Babylon, Belshazzar, grandson of the great king Nebuchadnezzar. But we see that as this chapter opens, Belshazzar is giving a banquet, giving a feast. Giving a feast to the people in Babylon. Why is he doing that? He's doing that because the enemy, the Persian army, has surrounded the city.

The people of the city are afraid that the Persian army is going to somehow get inside the city walls, which were very considerable. The defenses of Babylon were quite considerable. But you never know. And so the citizenry were upset. They were wanting to be encouraged.

The king has this great feast. He invites many prominent people to this banquet to stir up morale. This is Babylon. We have a tremendous army. We have great fortification.

But that very night that that feast was held, and we believe that feast to be held on October the 12th, 539 BC.

October the 12th, 539 BC was the third day of the Feast of Tabernacles that year.

Daniel himself had been retired for over 20 years. He's now probably 80 years old. He's an old, wise man. And all of a sudden, you've got this handwriting on the wall. And all the various visionaries and prophets and so forth of the king could not tell the king what this was all about. Finally, Daniel is summoned to give the king advice. And notice what it said of Daniel, chapter 5 of Daniel, verse 11.

It says, There is a man in your kingdom, in whom the spirit of the holy God is in whom is the spirit of the holy God, and in the days of your father, light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods were found in him. O king Nebuchadnezzar, your father, your father's kingdom, made him chief of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers. But notice here, in whom is the spirit of the holy God, like the wisdom of the gods were found in him.

Brethren, God equips us to strive for excellence. He equips us by giving us the spirit of the holy God. God is no respecter of persons. What you have in you, what I have in me right now, is the spirit of the holy God. And with that spirit, we can strive for excellence. God equips us to do that. If he didn't equip us, what kind of God would he be to ask us to do things we couldn't do? Verse 12, Inasmuch as an excellent spirit, knowledge, understanding, interpreting dreams, solving riddles, and explaining enigmas were found in us Daniel, whom the king named Belshazzar now let Daniel be called, for he will give the interpretation. But notice verse 12, An excellent spirit was in him.

The spirit of knowledge and understanding.

And again, brethren, remember, you have got that excellent spirit within you. God is no respecter of persons. Verse 14, he comes before the king, and the king says, I have heard of you that the spirit of God is in you, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you. And again, I know you are in me too. I know you are in me too. I know you are in me too. I know you are in me too. I know you are in me too. Wow! Wow! Wow! Let us never think that we can't accomplish what God wants us to accomplish in our life. Personal excellence and striving for— you know, if somebody like Vince Lombardi can strive for excellence so he can win football games, why can't we strive for excellence so we can be a better servant in the kingdom of God? Why can't we have that mindset that, you know, I am a son of God, a daughter of God, brother or sister to Jesus Christ, we've got this tremendous future, I want to strive to be the best I can be, no matter what my situation in life is. It's not a matter of how much money we make, or how much property we own, or if we live in a grand house or drive a great car. It's a matter of golden, righteous character. It's a matter of what we do in equipping ourselves as we live day in and day out, as Satan comes against us with his temptations. And we reject those temptations, and we stay true to the great God. Because there is a spirit in us that is striving for personal excellence, not the debauchery Satan would have us have us go into.

Let's now turn our attention to 2 Timothy chapter 3.

2 Timothy chapter 3.

I read this on a number of occasions here in Beloit. We read it this year at the feast. I'm going to read it again. 2 Timothy chapter 3. Talking about how God equips us for excellence. He gives us a spirit, but he gives us more than just a spirit. 2 Timothy 3.15. In that from childhood you've known the holy scriptures, sacred scriptures, unique scriptures, unique writings, which are able to make you wise. 3 Timothy chapter 3. Those very unique scriptures that are unique to God are enabling us. So many times we refer to enabling in a negative way, but we can be enabled in a positive way. The switch is turned on so we can see and understand by God's Holy Spirit, but then we read God's Word and we can be wise for salvation. Verse 16. All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine or teaching.

God's going to teach us how to be personally excellent. For reproof, God is going to convict us as to how we should be striving for excellence. For correction.

Getting out the thought, well, I can only do so much.

Well, God's called us to excellence. He's not called us to be satisfied with being mediocre.

And for instruction in righteousness. Or, as I said at the feast, training in righteousness. Training in being excellent. So God gives us His Holy Spirit, which is excellent. He gives us His Word, which is an excellent word.

Let's go to Romans 2, verse 18.

Romans 2, verse 18.

Romans 2, verse 18. And know His will, and approve the things that are excellent, be instructed out of the law.

Notice how God's will is connected to things that are excellent.

God's will and being connected to things are excellent. Paul is saying the Word of God is not only a record of God's will, it's a guideline to help us to determine which course of action is excellent. What course of action is superior to other courses of action?

So, number four was God equips us to strive for excellence. Lastly, number five. Point number five. We need to diligently do the work of striving for excellence.

We need to be diligent. Not half-hearted. Not lackluster. Not mediocre.

Not just barely passing a low bar. We need to be diligent in our striving for excellence. How do we do that? How are you and I to be striving for excellence? How exactly is that done?

Got a couple of interesting quotes here. You know Colin Powell, Colin Powell, retired four-star general, former chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 65th United States Secretary of State, man of some note. What does Colin Powell say about excellence? I quote, If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little matters. Excellence is not an exception. It is a prevailing mentality.

Excellence is a prevailing mentality.

For those of you who enjoy sports, Pat Riley had something to say about excellence. Pat Riley, NBA coach, regarded as one of the greatest NBA coaches of all time, he served as the head coach of five championship teams. What did Pat Riley have to say about excellence? He said, and I quote, Excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better.

The gradual result of always striving to do better. I'm talking about being diligent in our striving for excellence. Let's look at an example, a principle found here in Matthew 5. In a beautiful attitude, we're going to see what kind of attitude we need to have to strive for excellence. Attitude is the father of action. If we don't have the right attitude, we're not going to have the right action. Here, God gives us these beautiful attitudes.

So, our walk can be better. Closer to God. Matthew 5, verse 6.

Matthew 5, verse 6. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.

Do we hunger and thirst for personal excellence? We're not talking about personal excellence so we're better than the other guy in a negative, carnal way. We're trying to be the best that we can be with what God gave us. You know, it's one thing I like about the game of golf. You know, you go out many times and you're, maybe you've got three other people you're playing golf with or another buddy or something and, you know, people compare their scores and sometimes people bet and things like that. But ultimately, when you're a golfer, you are out there and you're trying to do better than what you did last time. I'm sure those of you who are listening to this, you can think of various examples in your life where you try to do better. Maybe you make a better cake or maybe you do, you know, better this or better that. You're trying to do better than what you've done in the past because you're striving to be excellent. You're striving to do your heart's best. And here it is an example, a principle in Matthew 5, 6 of hunger and thirsting for excellence as opposed to hungry and thirsting for mediocrity.

Let's take a look at 2 Corinthians, chapter 7, verse 11. 2 Corinthians, chapter 7, verse 11.

You know, I use the scripture every time I'm counseling somebody for baptism. When people want to know, what does it mean to be repentant? How do I know I am repentant? How do I know I'm ready for baptism? How do I know after I'm baptized that I really mean when I say I want to change? Well, this scripture is very, very key in giving us a great deal to think about. 2 Corinthians, 7, 11.

Not in an ungodly manner. We don't want to have fool's gold. We want to have the real deal.

Then it gives seven different fruits of repentance. Seven different fruits. I gave this as a sermon years ago on one of the days of Unleavened Bread.

What diligence it produced in you? What clearing of yourselves? What indignation? What fear? What vehement desire? What zeal? What vindication? If you've got those seven fruits, it says at the last sentence, in all these things, you prove yourselves to be clear in this matter. What matter? The matter of having sorrowed in a godly manner.

But notice two of these seven fruits. Diligence and desire.

Are we diligent in striving for excellence? Do we vehemently desire? Do we long for excellence in whatever we do in life, especially as we are looking to be better Christians before God?

So we need to be diligent in striving for excellence.

And we must be, secondly here, committed long-term. We must be committed long-term. We're not talking about a sprint here. We're talking about a marathon.

It must be our hearts and minds' greatest desire to be more like God, to be more like Jesus Christ, to be excellent as they are excellent. 1 Peter 1, verse 13. 1 Peter 1, verse 13. Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind. Very interesting word picture here. Gird up the loins of your mind. Be sober and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Gird up the loins of your mind.

Prepare for the long haul. Prepare that this is not going to be something that just takes place in a few seconds or a few minutes or a few months. It is a long course of action.

From Berkeley's Daily Study Bible, New Testament says this. From Berkeley's Daily Study Bible, New Testament says this regarding 1 Peter 1.13. He tells them to gird up the loins of their mind. This is a deliberately vivid phrase. In the East, men wore long flowing robes which hindered fast progress or strenuous action. Round the waist, they wore a belt or a girdle. And when strenuous action was necessary, they shortened the long robe by pulling it up within the belt in order to give themselves freedom of movement. The English equipment of the phrase would mean to roll up one's sleeves and take off one's jacket. Peter is telling the people that they must be ready for the most strenuous mental endeavor.

Be ready for the most strenuous mental endeavor. They must never be content with a flabby and unexamined faith. They must set and think on things. They must set to and think things out and think things through. End quote.

You know, brethren, as I've said in the sermons here recently, we're seeing our society unravel before our eyes. It is disheartening to see what's happening to this country. It's just, you know, we've been preaching about this for generations, and now what we've been preaching about is coming to pass. We have become a nation of Esau's who don't appreciate our birthright.

And the anger that is out there, and there's a tremendous amount of anger out there in the United States of America.

That anger that is directed at different things right now, it could be directed at Donald Trump, it could be directed at various races, but that anger is going to be turned toward Church of God people.

It's going to be directed at us, and we have to have personal excellence in our walk with God, because if we don't, we will wither on the vine. We will perish. We'll be like the example we see in Matthew 24, where it says, the love of many will grow cold. Brethren, we need to know what we believe. We need to be solid in that belief. We can't be sitting on any fence. God doesn't want fence-sitters. That's one of the reasons we've got the Great Tribulation to knock people off that fence, one way or another. Either they're going to go God's way or they're not going to go God's way.

Colossians chapter 1 verse 29.

You know, we need to diligently strive for excellence by... It must be our heart's greatest desire. Must be our mind's greatest desire. And we must powerfully labor for it.

We must powerfully labor for it. Colossians 1, 29.

To this end I also labor, striving according to his working, which works in me mightily.

To this end I labor, Paul says. The word labor means the toil, the struggle. And our labor's in our works at a point of exhaustion.

When Christ prayed, he prayed like... What was it? Like drops of blood. You know, I've done research on that. You've probably done research on that. Could that have taken place? The answer is yes, it could have taken place.

He was so intent on his prayers. There were so many things happening within his body, and the tensions, and the stresses. That little capillaries could have burst, and blood became to come to the surface and found itself in this sweat. But Paul says he labored. He toiled and struggled to the point of exhaustion.

The picture is of an athlete struggling, agonizing, pushing himself well beyond his capacity in order to achieve his objective.

Are we pushing ourselves for personal excellence?

So, brethren, today we've taken a look. We've asked the question, are you progressing in your quest for personal excellence? One more quote, one last quote, from Mr. Vince Lombardi.

The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor. The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.

Last scripture, Malachi chapter 3. Malachi chapter 3 verses 16 and 17.

Malachi 3 verses 16 and 17. Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord listened and heard them. So a book of remembrance was written before him for those who fear the Lord and those who meditate on his name. Verse 17, They shall be mine, says the Lord, on the day that I make them my jewels, on the day I make them my special treasure, and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves them. Notice God's view of his saints who pursue personal excellence. God calls them my special treasure, my jewels.

So, brethren, how are you progressing in your quest for personal excellence?