Tim Maas Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

The verse that always comes first to my mind with regard to excellence is Paul's concluding exhortation in his epistle to the Philippians (Philippians 4:8): "Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."

Various versions of the Bible render the word expressed as "excellence" in the translation above as follows: virtue, deeds of glory, right, worthiness.

The same word is used in other Bible verses such as Ruth 3:11 (where Boaz describes Ruth as a woman of worth), Proverbs 12:4 (which speaks of a virtuous woman), Proverbs 31:10 (which asks, "A good wife who can find?") and Proverbs 31:29, where the husband of the "good wife" praises her by saying, "Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all." Finally, Peter said in 2 Peter 1:3-4, "His [God the Father's or Christ's] divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to [or "by"] His own glory and excellence, by which He has granted to us His precious and very great promises, that through these you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of passion, and become partakers of the divine nature."

In the Old Testament, Daniel was described (in Daniel 6:3) as having "an excellent spirit" that was recognized even by foreign rulers (such as Belshazzar of Babylon and Darius of Media-Persia) that allowed him to be appointed to positions of great authority and responsibility; to interpret dreams; and to have major, far-reaching prophecies of future events and of the end times revealed to him by God.

In short, then, excellence not only describes God, but is the attribute for which all Christians should strive by following Him closely, modeling themselves after Him, and giving their best effort in everything they do. It is linked to all the qualities enumerated by Paul (truth, honor, justice, purity, and praiseworthiness) and is also characterized by the various other ways it is translated throughout the Bible.

February 02 2018 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report