The Standard Isn't Excellence. It's His Name.

Most Christians have been told to give their best at everything. That sounds right. It even sounds biblical. But it can quietly become its own kind of pride — the man who burns himself out perfecting things that didn't need perfecting, and still manages to leave God out of it entirely.

Colossians 3:17 doesn't say do everything perfectly. It says do everything in His name. "And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him."

That changes the question. It's not how much effort does this task deserve — it's whose name am I doing this under?

A sermon prepared in the flesh, polished and impressive, is still wood, hay, and stubble. A Tuesday night supper thrown together with a grateful heart, for the good of the family God gave you, is an act of worship. The difference isn't the quality of the output. It's the orientation of the soul.

This is why discernment matters more than drive. The man who learns to ask for whom am I doing this will know exactly how much the task demands — and he'll give it, without exhaustion and without pride, because he's not doing it for himself.

Do it in His name. That's the whole standard.

Pastor Fortunato
Founding Pastor & Preacher of the Word
Pilgrim Baptist Church — Cookeville, Tennessee

https://pilgrimbaptist.church/
https://www.sermonaudio.com/solo/pilgrimbaptist/