8. Getting versus Giving

In 2 Corinthians 9:6-7, it says “He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.” It is not about what we gain when we serve. But it is about what we can give when we serve. A lot of people nowadays in networking look at networking on what they can gain out of it when they are at the gathering. Why not look at it on what you can give out of the networking. If we are constantly looking for praise and encouragement from people, benefits from other people, we will be disappointed and end up being a man-pleaser. But if we have an attitude of a servant, desiring to give and help, we will find fulfilment and satisfaction in God for God will be the one to reward us. I have met leaders in ministry works who give up when they feel unappreciated by other fellow men. While we need encouragement, our attitude should still be of giving rather than taking. Networking in business should be like this. I want to give those in business a challenge as they go for their next networking gathering. Instead of thinking what they can gain out of it, think about what you can give to others in the networking group. Instead of using people to win things, use things to win people. How can you turn everything around by being a person with excellent thinking? These are examples of excellent thinking – “I want to win you over so I honour you. I want to win you over so I bless you. I am a blessing to you even before you are a blessing to me. There is nothing I want to take from you. I just want to bless you.”

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3. Self-centered versus Spirit-centered

You are not self-centered but Spirit-centered. Zechariah 4:6 says “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts.” Sometime, when we ask people to come forth to serve in the ministry and to serve God, they say they are not adequate or good enough. But we got to understand that God is not looking for perfect vessel but willing vessel. Your lifestyle is going to grow more and more into perfection. But God is looking for a willing heart that He can pour out His anointing and Spirit upon you. So it is not to find the source within yourself but to lean upon God who will empower you and give you a vision. I said earlier that when God gives you the vision, He will give you the provision.

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HOW DO WE APPLY IT?

All these above are the foundation of excellent thinking. But what can we do practically to change the way we think? How we do it to ensure that our right thinking will lead to right behaviour and methods?

When we think correctly, our methods will be correct. It is crucial for you to know that excellence is not the same as extremism. Just because God expects you to be excellent, He doesn’t expect you to be an extremist. Setting high standard for yourself is good but demanding perfectionism is being extremist. Perfectionism is different from excellence. Perfectionism does not allow for mistake. Each time, it is not good enough and you blame yourself for not getting it right. Being an extremist can lead to depression, being suicidal and low self-esteem. This is not excellence. (more…)

Excellence Is To Outdo Yourself Each Time

Some people mistakenly expect that after they become a Christian, God will show them special favours. They think that the teachers will be less strict with their papers so they pray that God please help their teachers to be blind, even if the answer is wrong, the teacher will mark it correct. Some teachings may say that if you are a Christian, all things will be successful and you will have no problems in life. It will be bliss. Do you think this is favour? Let me tell you. It doesn’t work that way in life. In fact, it is the other way round. Now that you are a Christian, you have all the resources in your hands that you didn’t have before. You now have the word of God and the Holy Spirit to guide you. You have the power of prayer. You have the wisdom from heaven above to draw upon for James said that those who lack wisdom can ask of God freely and it will be given to you freely without reproach. (more…)

Excellence Is To Transcend Your Job Description

An average person says “this is not my job. I am not paid to do this. I don’t care.” But an excellent person says “I am here to provide the best possible service to my client or to my employer. Even if I am not paid to do this, I will do it for the sake of the customer. I will do it for my company. I’ll go an extra mile for them.” (more…)

2. Demand On Your Time

To achieve success for your dream, you got to pay the price of time. For you to serve in a ministry in church, you have to give up some time to serve. To get a degree in your studies, it will demand time from you from other things. Many times, you will hear people say “I don’t have time to learn. I don’t have time to do this and that.” But time, can be defined as a current of events. So time management is simply event management. If you can manage the event in your life well, you can manage time well.

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1. Demand On Your Heart

Proverbs 4:23 says “keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” It didn’t say keep your money or your pocket with all diligence. It says keep your heart for out of it spring issues and it means the geographical boundary of your life. How far you will go in life is always a matter of the heart. It is a matter of your eternal belief and attitudes. If you have a dream, your heart will be called in pursuit to fulfil your dream. High achievers are people with a deep emotion well inside of them. They are not only able to motivate other people, they also able to motivate themselves. When they are disappointed, they are able to pick themselves up. They have this great reservoir of emotional capacity within them to keep on going even if the road is tough. When they meet with problems, accusations, and criticisms from people, they have this ability to draw within their hearts to keep going again and again. In life, everything we do, there will always be disappointments. But how do we become successful, and be a high achiever? The bible uses the word “overcomer”. We are to be an overcomer. Something comes at us, we overcome it. Overcomers are people with excellent thinking. It is their attitudes in life that distinguish them from other people. (more…)

Excellence Is To Obtain Greater In Quantity

You tried to be productive as you can for the Lord. You are not satisfied at this level of productivity and you want more. John 15:16 says “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.”  What Jesus is saying here is “be fruitful”. He doesn’t just call us to be faithful, He also called us to be fruitful. Many people want their life to be dramatic and have a radical change. Companies want their sales to increase. They want investors to be queuing up at their doorsteps. Students want their school grades to improve overnight. Some wants to find a quick way to be millionaires. But the truth is, all these instantaneous results don’t happen in real life. In real life situation, it takes real hard work, right mindset, to raise the quality of your life to become a productive person. In fact, it takes a lot of patience, a lot of persistency for you to see fruits. (more…)

Excellence Is To Be Superior In Quality

An army general, William Foster (1917-1945) said “Quality never happens by chance, it is always the result of high intention.”  So, quality is never going to come by you sitting around and hoping for the best. It will only come by design, by you maintaining a standard of quality. It means we have to purpose in our hearts to do excellence works. You make it a point never to compromise the quality of your work. (more…)

In this article, we will look at how we can think with excellence. We will look at how different thinking and mindset will cause you to do things differently. These new thinking will distinguish from other people. It will make you the salt of the earth and light of the world.

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