Rachel Whisman

Last week, I said adios to summer and stepped back onto my elementary campus for the start of teacher professional development. At the beginning, our Principal directed us to greet one another, and I met one of my new co-workers. It is her first year teaching, and it was refreshing to meet her as she is giddy with excitement, but also a little bit nervous, who wouldn’t be? As I talked with her, I had an opportunity to share with her something I wish someone had told me entering my first year as a teacher: strive for excellence and not perfection. Even as I said it, I realized that I, too, would never outgrow this truth. 

As God’s children, this goes outside the bounds of teaching. It infiltrates how we do everything. Am I living under the burden of perfectionism or in the freedom of doing my work with excellence because I know what God expects of me? If He has redeemed me, He does not expect perfection; that’s what Christ did for us. He expects us to pursue Him with vigor and excellence that is fueled by His Spirit. He knows that we will mess up, do you? He knows our limitations, do you? He understands that you won’t be able to get it right every time, but He does expect you to strive with purpose in the work you do with a dependence on Him (Colossians 3:23-24). 

He does not take delight in you shoving Him away, gritting your teeth, and not asking for help. Instead, we see Him say something else: “But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word” (Isaiah 66:2). Christ was the ultimate example of this, and we are not to think there is a better way in us. To do so is idolatry and sin. We follow in His footsteps of perfection and dare not try to pave our own path. Will we mess up in our pursuits? Yes, but it is no reason at all to derail and stop trying. Your work is ultimately for the Lord. Just because it is not done perfectly, does not mean it is of any less value if it is done with excellence. The more we understand who God is, the more we will want to serve him and not ourselves with all our affections. We will not be perfect until heaven, but that does not mean we just stay crippled in complacency. Our work is not just a testimony to the watching world, but also the way in which we do it. As Jonny Ardavanis says, “Attitude is everything.” Our work that He has given us is a gift. It is fitting and right to return to Him our best. Not where we are trying to appease Him, but to worship Him. 

“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” -Colossians 3:23-24