Good Enough...

I have a pet peeve.

Sure, I know I have listed several throughout the months I have been writing here, but this one is pretty much the top of my list.  The phrase, "it's good enough for government work" drives me crazy.  Perhaps it is because I am a government employee.  Perhaps it is just how I was raised to not settle for "good enough."  Perhaps I just do not accept mediocrity.

In any case, I can not accept that statement.

As a young Christian, I was impressed by Colossians 3:23 "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men."  That means a lot to me. 

When we love someone, should we not do our best in everything we do for them? Should we not strive to excell in our actions? I want to live awesome.  I want to be awesome.  I want everything I do to have the stamp of approval that this was the VERY best I could come up with.

Sure, even when we do our best, sometimes we still fall short.  That is not the issue.  The issue is did I give it all I had?

When you read that verse, please notice that it ends in a comma.  It is not a complete statement.  Read the next verse to learn the Why?  "knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ."

Did you see it?  It is the knowledge that what we do will be rewarded.  In this social miasma of "everybody wins," it is taking away the true meaning of the prizes we EARN.  Our children are being poisoned with the idea that we do not have to work to be rewarded.  They are seeing examples of people (and I am not slamming Lance Armstrong and all the good he did/does with LIVESTRONG) who cheat to get ahead and are rewarded.  It is hard to try to teach personal responsibility in this culture of self-esteem.

I have never really been the guy at work who does things in hopes of being noticed or recognized.  I truly do not care about that at all.  When I am recognized for a job well done, I am usually surprised since I am just doing my job.  I am grateful and appreciative, but it does not drive my performance.  I do what I do how I do it because it is how I would want others to do it if I was in charge.

While writing this post, I was reminded of an OLD song from the early days of Contemporary Christian Music by the group Petra, "Godpleaser."  Part of the lyrics follow:

I just want my life to glorify His Son

To make my Father proud that I'm His child before I'm done
No need to pat me on the back or stop to shake my hand
I just want to hear my Father say "Well done, well done"
I just want to hear my Father say "Well done"

To me, that is the ultimate reward and why I strive to perform at my highest level.