Report Card

Are you one who strives for excellence or are you a perfectionist? Why do I ask? Because not knowing the difference could harm you and the people around you. Striving for excellence can simply be defined as doing the best with what you have been given. Perfectionism on the other hand is demanding perfection (an unreachable goal) out of yourself and others.

I first made this distinction during report card time in elementary school. I remember hearing about some of my friends who would get in trouble if they didn't get all "A's" on their report cards. In these cases, it didn't matter how hard they worked. Nothing less than an "A" was acceptable. Their parents were perfectionists. I, on the other hand, was not afraid to come home with less than an "A", unless I knew that I didn't do my very best in a particular subject. As long as my parents knew that I did my best, they would congratulate me on a job well done.

This is not to say that I always did my best! School was not always my favorite place to go. In fact, one summer, I celebrated my vacation by putting my books in the driveway and setting them on fire! Let's just say that my parents weren't too happy about this!

You may have noticed that I didn't choose a musical example to illustrate my point. I did this on purpose because I believe that excellence is a way of life. Colossians 3:23 says, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men."

I believe that we should strive for excellence in everything: our relationships, our vocation, our devotion to God, our health, our financial management, our talents, etc. Why? So that we can glorify God in all that we do.

Oh, and by the way, striving for excellence brings freedom. How so? When you really know that you did your best at something, you don't look back and condemn yourself no matter the result. Instead, you find fulfillment in the fact that you gave it your all!