An Excellent Spirit
How To Be Promoted
| I
am positive that every one of you would like to be promoted. Whether
it's in a job, among your friends, in your church, or whatever situation
you are in, you would like recognition, promotion, and probably more
influence. Unfortunately, very few people are willing to do the things
that Daniel and his three Hebrew friends did in order to have the
excellent spirit they had. Even fewer are committed to just being
faithful to God. ** God is not the one who determines whether or not you have an excellent spirit-you do. The phrase "excellent spirit" was only used in the book of Daniel, but it's really what the Bible describes as faithfulness. God promotes and rewards faithfulness and people who have faithful hearts. So, a spirit of excellence is the key to promotion according to the Word. Here is an example of that in action:
Servants,
be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with
fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; [6] Not
with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing
the will of God from the heart; [7] With good will doing service, as to
the Lord, and not to men: [8] Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man
doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or
free.
Ephesians 6:5-8
Now,
most of the people reading this are probably not servants, slaves, or
masters, but this can also relate to an employer, an employee, or a
person who is under the authority of another. The Scriptures say to
serve those over you "with fear and trembling, in singleness of your
heart, as unto Christ" (Eph. 6:5). In other words, Christians should
look at their work as serving Christ, not people. One of the things
about an excellent spirit is that instead of looking at people as your
source, you need to see God as your source. And this passage of
Scripture goes on to say that "the same shall he receive of the Lord,"
meaning God will give back to you what you have done for Him.
If you aren't being promoted, if you're being passed over, if it seems like everybody else rises and you just stay the same, it's possible that you don't have an excellent spirit. Maybe you've allowed a bad attitude, discouragement, fear, or stress to dominate you. But you need to know that your attitude determines your altitude. You cannot rise any higher than the image and the way that you think on the inside. Now, you can't control other people or circumstances, but you can control the attitude that's on the inside of you. Matthew 25:23 says that to be made ruler over much, you must be faithful in that which is least. That includes being faithful over the private thoughts and secret intentions of your heart. Like Daniel, you can choose to have an excellent spirit. If you do that, I promise you, you will be promoted-not just at your employment-but also in your family, among your friends, and in your neighborhood. |
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