Beloved, the God we serve is a God of excellence; he is a God of absolute excellence, everything he created is excellent. When you look into the scriptures in the book of Genesis 1:10, the bible says “And God called the dry land earth, and the gathering together of waters he called seas, and God saw that it was good”, another version of the bible says, excellent. That is what God called all he made – good. Whatever God does is good, perfect, flawless, and faultless. With him there is no better, there is no best; his good is the best, it can’t’ be improved on because he is a perfect God, the same yesterday, today and forever. He is the only wise God and anything and everything he has created is excellent. When you look at the clouds, the sun, the moon, the waters, the hills, the mountains, the trees in the forest, you will see excellence in all of them; they are all placed excellently well. He is a God of excellence not a God of mediocrity and because lion will beget lions, dog will beget dogs; God also will beget gods. We are gods, Psalm 82 says, “Ye are gods”. We are gods because we are born out of God. One of the ways to determine the paternity of a child is the DNA. This means if someone is born out of you, he/she will have your DNA and if you are born out of someone, you will have the person’s DNA – that is why I have the DNA of my father and that is why you have the DNA of your father. As such, when you got born – again, when you honestly surrender your life to Jesus – the son of God, you have spiritually contracted the DNA of God, so when your blood is checked, the only thing that will be seen is the DNA of the most high God and if indeed God is a God of excellence, then you his child must be a child of excellence, except you are a bastard.

When you move further in the same Genesis 1: 12, the bible says “And the earth brought forth grass, the harp that yield seeds according to its kind and the tree that yield fruits according to its kind and God saw that it was good”. The truth is every sincere child of God must carry the DNA of God which is the DNA of excellence. In everything we do as children of God, we should be excellent. Excellence is simply doing little things in an extraordinary ways, doing ordinary things perfectly well. Every little thing you do should carry the mark of excellence. When you speak, dress, walk, laugh, dance etc, you must do it extraordinarily well because that is what you are – a person of excellence. That is the desire of God for his children, he doesn’t want us to have the mediocre mentality; he wants us to be excellent in everything we do in life. Becoming excellent is a gradual result of always striving to be the better you, making conscious effort to improve yourself. A lot of people talk of discrimination of all sought and forget the fact that excellence over powers all discriminations. Excellence is the only antidote to any form of discrimination because nobody doubts excellence – it is visible, it can be seen, it can be felt, it can be touched, it lasts because it is original. There are some people who have become pillars in their offices, no matter the decision to dismiss offices; they are reserved because they work with the spirit of excellence. Daniel is a good example; In Daniel 5:12, the bible says “In as much as an excellence spirit and knowledge and understanding, interpretation of dreams and showing of hard sentences and dissolving of doubts was found in the same Daniel”. Here, the first thing that was found in Daniel was the spirit of excellence and this stands him out. Amongst all the things listed about him, excellence was the first that was noticed. This is because excellence is visible. There are no missing things in the bible; there is no mistake with God and his word because God is a perfect God.

Excellence is what you used to overcome any form of discrimination because it makes you stand out, it separates you from others, it reserves you – you become untouchable. When you operate in the spirit of excellence, it helps you break barriers; it helps you overcome competitions without violence. When you work in excellence or operate with the spirit of excellence, you win battles without engaging in physical combats. You don’t need to fight your competitors or rivals in business; all you need to do is to constantly make a conscious effort to improve yourself and what you do. Excellence requires that you develop a habit of doing little things in a big way. I have seen people who expect big things when they really cannot do the little ones well. Listen, people who complain of doing little things are pretty little to do big things. Becoming excellence in what you do is not expensive as many think; it’s not for the rich. It’s for every child of God. When you do little things excellently well, you become expensive; you become valuable, precious – that’s the reward of excellence. Microsoft, Apple, Google, Face book, Coca cola, and many are all valuable organizations today because they are excellence focus – all it cost these firms to get to where they are is the mind of excellence. So, as a fashion designer, the style that others do shabbily, do it well – put a touch of excellence! As a barber or hairstylist, the cut or style that others do ordinarily, do it extraordinarily! As a child of God, operate with excellence in your place of work, home, church and everywhere you find yourself. The world we live -in does not appreciate mediocrity, so, you must strive to be at the top because the bottom is overcrowded.

Excellence is sacrificial, it takes effort, it’s a commitment and when you cannot commit to it, you become a mediocre, a second hand. It should be a habit, a habit is something you do often, a part of you, something you are known for, something you are identified with – that’s how excellent should be. It should be your habit, a part of you. It’s important beloved, that we know how a habit is being formed. Let’s take for instance, as a man, I wake up 7am everyday to go to work and choose to change my waking up habit to 5am because I want to live an excellent life; to read a little, study a bit and pray before I set out for work, my body because it’s used to 7am will definitely complain but if I continue to use an alarm or someone waking me up by 5am, in 21 days, my body will get used to it. That’s how it works; it takes 21 days to form a new habit. What many don’t know is that productivity is not an accident but a result of commitment to excellence, intelligent planning and focused effort. The bible says “a wise woman will build her house but a foolish woman with her hands will pull it down”. It is not an accident when your house is in order – it takes effort. It takes effort to make excellence because it’s visible. When David was to be anointed as king over Israel, Samuel stood and looked at the brothers of David; he said “this is the anointed of the lord” just by looking at his physical. God said “men look at the outward but I look inward”. As such, anything you do in the world of men must first attracts the physical. No matter how good a content may be, if the container is not excellence, it will lose its value. The first thing that attracts you to anyone is the appearance – the look. When a container looks shabbily, most times, it discourages you to even try to see the content. As such, excellence should be the first to be seen in all we do as a child of God.

Today, we see a high level of indecency in the church; many in the name of Christianity are no longer excellence focus, many just do things anyhow, dress anyhow, talk anyhow and expect an excellent driven God to walk with them – No! It doesn’t work that way. Many years ago in my fellowship in the university days, the spirit of God directed us to pray for all the sisters who were looking for life partners and all the sisters stood up to be prayed for but as we were praying, the spirit of God asked to me to stop and look at the sisters we were praying for and when I opened my eyes, I saw how the sisters all looked, shabbily – no packaging – nothing. Even me, who was one of the fellowship coordinators, would never select any amongst them for a life partner. I am not saying that sisters should dress seductively – No! There is a difference in dressing seductively and dressing beautifully – just put a touch of excellence. Put on beautiful wears that fits your style, don’t just wear anything because you think it’s good or beautiful. Listen, every good or beautiful thing is not for everybody; look out for the ones that is good for you – the ones that make you valuable and appreciative – be excellent driven.

Here in this article, I will like to expose you to the 3 things you need to do to become a person of excellence.

1. Think like God. I have not seen anything that God did that is not excellent. Even amoeba as shapeless as it is, it’s excellent. Is not excellent to design something that has no shape? When you look at lion in its beauty, fishes in the waters; the way they move in the waters – is it not excellent? They are all perfect! No mistake! A lot of us encounter challenges most times because we are not living life the way God wants us to live. And a life, home, society or organization that does not adore excellence will soon end up in the trash bin. Anyone that does not take cognizance of living an excellent life will end up in the trash bin. It does not cost anything to live an excellence life. Tell me, how much does it cost to live orderly? How much does it cost to live a well planned life – nothing, it’s the mind. God, who is our perfect example, did not spend a dime for all he did yet he did them excellently well. We all need to understand that opportunities in life expands where there is excellence, when you put a touch of excellence in the small things you do, it opens doors for you. So, why write a letter or proposal when everyone is printing theirs because you feel you have a fine handwriting – who cares? Why allow a letter full of cancellation leave your office? Think! Use your brain! God gave us brain so that we can put our lives into order, he gave you brain so that you can think. When you do your work or live life excellently well, your reward is appreciation. You cannot see anyone who is excellent and not valued or appreciated; some may grumble but with time, they will join the league of people who will eulogize you for excellence because excellent has a source and the source is God. So, think like God.
2. See like God. This is another thing we must do if we really want to be a people of excellence. The life we live-in is structured in such a way that we become what we see. God saw “good” in all he did, he was sure it was good. You must also look out for good in all you do, be sure your work is good, be sure your home is good, be sure your relationship is good – see it first! Whatever you can captivate, you can attract to yourself.
3. Act like God. God is a God that sees those things that are not as though they are, it has not existed but he acted and behaved as though it existed- that’s faith!

If you can think, see and act like God, you will surely become excellent in all you do.
Having known the 3 things that can be done to become excellence, there are 6 more steps we need to take to bring out our godly thoughts, visions and actions into excellence. Everyone, every organization you see today took these same steps to become what they are. So, if these steps have worked for others, it will work for you.

1. Have Hunger for Excellence. This may sound simple but it the truth, be hungry for excellence. The bible says “blessed are they that hungers and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be fed”. In other words, long for excellence, pursue it and you will get it.
2. Benchmark with the best and learn from them. See, what you are doing or want to do is not new, some people have done it before, and some are doing it and doing it perfectly well. Get close to them, learn from them. Don’t go down to the mediocre, benchmark with the best, be mentored by the best, ask questions from the best; find how they are doing what they do, find how they do it well and do it the same way. A lot of us fail in this area because of pride. Some are shy to ask questions. That’s the attitude of the mediocre. Listen, you have to be bold in life because excellence is not for cowards, Life on the other hand does not give you what you deserve, but what you decide. Ask questions from the best; find out how and why.
3. Build a strategy – put a plan in place. In 2 chronicles, the bible says “And Jothan became mighty because he prepared his ways before the lord” he just didn’t become mighty like most of us want, he prepared himself. To become excellent in anything you do, you have to make good preparation; you have to build a strategy – a plan. There is a saying that he who fails to plan is actually planning to fail. This means, when you fail to plan, what you are equally doing is that you are walking on a map that leads to failure and failure can never lead you into excellence. As such, develop the habit of consistent planning. Before you do anything whatsoever, no matter how small it seems, make a plan and then be sure it is good.
4. Believe you can do it and believe it’s possible. In Luke 1:18-20, the bible talked about Zachariah, when the angels of the lord appeared to him and said to him that his wife Elizabeth will give birth to a son and that he shall named him John. Zachariah who was a high prophet said “it’s impossible; I am old and my wife Elizabeth is also old”. And the angel cursed him and said to him that he won’t be able to speak until the prophecy came to pass. That’s how many talk of excellence “it’s not possible”. When you say “it’s not possible”, you have stopped your god sent angel to work for you. Angels are ministering spirits to us. Listen, in God’s hierarchy, God comes first, followed by the redeemed man, the angels, the devil and his cohorts, and then the unsaved man. Man appeared twice on the hierarchy. When you sincerely give your life to Christ, you have transcend from the ordinary, beyond devil and the angels to sit with the son of God in the heavenly places but if you are yet to be saved, you are directly under the devil. The lower does not give command to the higher but in Zachariah’s case, the lower did not only command but cursed him. The angel didn’t even go back to God to get permission before he could curse him; he just did because he has relegated himself as a result of doubt. Whenever you say “it’s impossible”, you have relegated yourself; you have brought the supernatural power in you to a halt. Believe it’s possible; don’t believe it’s for the rich. Believe it also for you, believe you can do it.
5. Do not limit yourself. Do not look down on yourself. The fact that you live in a room apartment does not stop you from being excellent; do not look down on yourself. The only thing that can transform your life to what God wants you to be is excellence. God will not come down to help you; he will only give you wisdom and wisdom will help you design a strategy, the strategy however requires excellence and with excellence, it will bring you victory and the victory will then bring glory in the long run. If you don’t do whatever idea God gave you excellently well, you will attracts nothing and so victory will not come. So, you need to understand this simple truth that, you must not look down on yourself, that’s what failures do and since you are not a failure, you therefore must not limit yourself.
6. Be adaptable to change. Beloved, the world we live in is an ever changing world and as it changes, you must also be changing. When I was a child, the television set we use is not the same we use today, much has changed. Then, it used to be foldable with few channels coming up from 4pm to 12am but today, it’s plasma with 24hrs channels. Then, no one touches or carries computer anyhow but today, it’s now modified into lift able tools; you have laptops, ipads, and androids everywhere. The world is changing and you as an excellence minded person must be adaptable to it, you must be conscious and sensitive to it, that’s how excellent minds work, you must always strive to be the better you, because the ever moving world waits for no one; for when you refuse to change when the world is changing, you become irrelevant and soon you will be forgotten.

With these six steps, you can move into the excellent world. However, there is something called the impartation of excellence. Excellence is a spirit and this spirit has a source and the source is God. As such, anyone who desires to be excellence must be connected to God through impartation. I pray that as you read this, may the spirit of excellence come over you, and may every spirit of mediocrity be broken in Jesus mighty name. Amen.
Welcome into the world of excellence.