Do Your Best

Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.

Colossians 3:23

One school has the motto “Do your best, and the rest will take care of itself.” While that may not be entirely true, it’s used to motivate the students in their schoolwork and to build pride in their school.

The apostle Paul takes the do-your-best idea one step further and tells his readers to do everything as though they were doing it for the Lord. That’s an even higher motivation than doing your best to show school pride. It’s doing your best because you are a princess of the heavenly King and you want to please him.

You may be wondering how you can do your best at things you’re not very good at. What if you’re better at playing a board game with a friend than running a lap in PE class? What if you get an A on your art project and a C on your math assignment? It’s simply easier for you to do your best at something you’re good at. Or what if you’re asked to do something you don’t enjoy? If you know that you don’t like doing a certain job, activity, or assignment, you’re not likely to give it your all.

While that may be true, God wants you to do your best, whether the task is easy or hard for you. He wants your all, whether you like what you are doing or not. If you find that hard to do, remind yourself that your motivation is to please Jesus by the job you do, whether or not you enjoy it and whether or not you’re good at it. So next time your teacher gives an extra-long reading or math assignment, or your mom asks you to sweep out the garage, tackle it cheerfully, and know that you’re doing it for God.

Think of one thing that is hard for you to do or something that you don’t enjoy doing. Ask God to help you do your best for him. You may want to memorize today’s verse as a reminder.