Part Three: Embracing Excellence

God gave these four young men an unusual aptitude for understanding every aspect of literature and wisdom. Daniel 1:17

So, we have deconstructed perfection, understanding that we need to embrace grace and not perfection. Then we deconstructed imperfection understanding that we need to be intentional about becoming the best version of ourselves. To wrap it all up, we’re talking about embracing excellence.

One of my favorite people in the bible is Daniel. Daniel embodied excellence, if he was a University student now he would be the one with the fresh trim, nice outfit and banging grades, Daniel was THAT GUY. The most beautiful thing about his character is how self-assured he was and that transpired into him being excellent. Determined not to defile himself by eating food given to them by the king, Daniel stuck to his diet of vegetables and water and him and his friends ‘looked healthier and better nourished than the young men who had been eating the food assigned by the king’. Peng ting called Daniel! Ok, next. The bible describes Daniel and his friends as having ‘unusual aptitude for understanding every aspect of literature and wisdom’ meaning that his intellect was outstanding. Daniel could also interpret the meanings of visions and dreams. See, AMAZING. But Daniel faced a big trial, one that led him into the lion’s den.

Now, if you went to Sunday school you will be very familiar with this account. However, perhaps we were too young to realise the confidence and excellence that led Daniel into the den and how we can learn from it. Daniel was thrown into the den because of jealousy, he was a ‘faithful, responsible and completely trustworthy’ and the king’s people could not find a way to condemn him, so they set him up. They created a rule that said only the king should be prayed to for thirty days. And what happened next is hilarious. Daniel heard the decree and went skrr skrr to his room and ‘knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with the windows open towards Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God’. THE AUDACITY. THE TEMERITY. Do you know how funny that is? You have been told to only pray to a king and the next thing you do is go to your room open the window and start visibly, perhaps even audibly disobeying and you don’t care at all. WE STAN DANIEL. So that’s what led Daniel to the den. SPOLIER ALERT: Daniel came out of the den unscathed because God was on his side consequently the king then ordered that ‘everyone throughout the kingdom should tremble with fear before the God of Daniel’. WHAT A STORY!!!

What has always struck me about Daniel is his spirit of excellence. One does not have to look too deep into the scripture to see that Daniel’s excellence was birthed from his relationship with God and his awareness of his identity. This is a framework we can apply to our own lives. In pursuing a worldly standard of perfection, we leave little room to pursue Godly excellence and in embracing all our imperfections we don’t aspire to be the best we can be. I’m sure Daniel was not perfect, but he was so sure of who God is that he was willing to be thrown into a Lion’s den, he was so confident in his relationship with God that he risked his life to pray to and worship God. And in turn he embodied excellence.

‘Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all things will be added onto you’ Matthew 6:33. This is the foundation step of embracing excellence for yourself, you must seek God. It sounds very simple and some will argue that it is very simple but the pursuit of excellence and the awareness that sometimes you will falter and fail is a sign of being intentional about growing in your faith. And we can see from the life of Daniel that to be excellent you have to form a relationship; a deep appreciation and love, for God. You have to be intentional and shameless about pursuing a relationship with God. You have to be able to metaphorically or literally go to your room, on your knees, with open windows and cry out to God despite judgement or even difficulties presented to you in the environment or society that you are in.

Daniel teaches us in order to be excellent you need to ensure that you don't succumb to any pressure and you don't give any excuses, instead you must whole-heartedly submit to God and excellence will follow. So, let us free ourselves from the shackles of worldly perfection, and the pity and self-destruction of accepting negative traits and embrace excellence by embracing a meaningful and deep relationship with God.

We’re all on this journey together, share your thoughts, feelings and experiences with me by commenting below, tweeting your thoughts or sending me a dm or personal message on Twitter or Instagram. Stay blessed and beautiful. #itunuspeaks