The topic for this week has been “Excellence and Integrity.” I have been following Joyce Meyer’s four part sermon series entitled “Living with Excellence and Integrity.” If you would like to read the summary of part one, two, and three of this series, as well as my commentary, then review my previous blog’s.
Today was the last part of Joyce Meyer’s series, and the title was “Don’t Compromise.” I think the title of this part of Joyce’s series says so much. I believe that we are called to live to a higher standard, as believers in and followers of Jesus. God has set apart His chosen people to live lives that glorify Him and spread love to others. Since we are set apart, it only makes sense that we will not live like people in the world who don’t know the Lord. Our lives should be a testimony to the goodness of God’s grace and His redemptive power. Choose not to compromise your values, morals, and principles for anyone or anything. Live the life of excellence that God has called you to.
Joyce began the last part of her series encouraging Christian’s that it is never too late to change and become a person of excellence. She went on to talk about our thought life and how it can affect us. She asked, “How do you see yourself? How do you feel about yourself?” Most of us would agree that the view that we hold of ourselves will determine how we live our lives. If we want to live an excellent life, then we have to have an excellent view of ourselves. Joyce was not insinuating that we need to be vain, but she was encouraging that we let go of the negative views that we hold of ourselves, and make the choice to see ourselves the way that God sees us. In case you don’t know how God sees you, I just want to encourage you that God sees you as His precious child that He loves so greatly. He loves you so much that He sent His only Son to die for all of the sins that you have committed (John 3:16). You are precious and extremely valuable to Him, and He loves you more than you can imagine!
When we have God in our lives, we have all that we will ever need to succeed. Start saying to yourself what God says about you. Read His promises and declarations of love to you in the Bible. Know that if you have accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior, then you are a co-heir with Christ! You are the head and not the tail! You are above and not beneath! You are victorious and have authority in Christ! When we know who we are in Christ, we will not only have confidence in our lives, but we will have power. “We are nothing without Him, but we are all things through Him (Joyce Meyer).”
During her sermon, “Don’t Compromise,” Joyce read Numbers 13:23-33. We see in these verses how the Jews viewed themselves in comparison with the giants of the land. We see that the Jews viewed themselves as grasshoppers, and because they viewed themselves in this light, the giants of the land viewed them the same way. We can also see from this chapter in the Bible that the Jews spent 40 years in the wilderness, when the trip should have only taken them a few days. Why? They made the choice to complain and maintain a negative thought life. Joyce reminds us that how long we spend in the wilderness depends on our attitude. This is why our thought life is so important. How can we expect to overcome obstacles and trials in our lives if we won’t make the choice to clothe ourselves with Christ, renew our thought life with God’s help and make a choice to get out of the wilderness?
There aren’t many people today who make the choice to live a life of excellence, and unfortunately there are many Christian’s in this category. If you are one of those people, then know that with God’s help you can change your life. Joyce told us in her sermon that it is never too late to change our lives and live with excellence, and she also told us that we have to begin with our thought life. We need to view ourselves the way God does, and we need to keep our focus on Jesus. The devil will do anything to steal our focus away from God’s call on our lives. Don’t fixate on your faults. We all sin and we all make mistakes, but if we ask God to forgive us and repent of our sins, then God is faithful and He will forgive and guide us. Don’t focus so much on what you do wrong or what you have done wrong that you forget who you are in Christ. You are a new creation, and His mercies are new every morning!
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