Being Excellent In The Workplace | Joel Osteen

1:45 Stay tuned to hear more of my story during the break. Hey, thanks again for being with us today. Always my honor to be able to share God's Word with you and hopefully inspire you and encourage you. If you're enjoying the podcast, I hope you'll share it with a friend, pass it along. Let's inspire some other people as well. But know that we love you. It's going to be a blessed day for you. Well, God bless you. It's always a joy to come into your homes. We love you and just appreciate being able to spend this next little while with you. And if you're ever in our area, I hope you'll stop by and be a part of one of our services. I promise you will make you feel right at home. But thanks for watching and thanks again for coming out I like to start with something funny each week and I heard about this mother that invited some people over for dinner At the table she said to her little five-year-old daughter, honey, do you want to say the blessing? She said no mom. I wouldn't know what to say. She said oh sure you would honey. Just say what you hear mom say So she bows her head and said oh lord. Why did I invite these people to dinner?

2:44 All right, hold up your Bible. Say it like you mean it. This is my Bible. I am what it says I am. I have what it says I have. I can do what it says I can do. Today, I will be taught the Word of God. I boldly confess my mind is alert. My heart is receptive. I will never be the same. In Jesus' name, God bless you. I want to talk to you today about being excellent in the workplace. Unemployment is at one of the highest levels that it's been in many years Every day we read about more businesses closing and more potential for layoffs And if we're going to keep our positions or at least see new opportunity open up if something were to close down Now more than ever we need to be people of excellence We live in a society where mediocrity is the norm Many people do as little as they can to get by They're always looking for the easy way out.

3:47 If the boss isn't watching, they're playing on the computer. They simply go to work to pick up a paycheck. Then they wonder why they're not promoted and why they don't see increase. It's because God doesn't bless mediocrity. He blesses excellence. And whatever we do, we should do it to the best of our ability. If you're a teacher, don't be an average teacher. Be an excellent teacher. If you're a plumber, don't be an okay plumber. Be a great plumber. If you work in sales, don't give it a half-hearted effort. Make a few phone calls, get discouraged. Nobody's buying, business is slow. No, come up with new strategies. Learn from the people that are in front of you. Stay determined, stay focused. You have excellence on the inside. It was put there by the creator of the universe. and whether you're a waitress, a truck driver, an architect, a police officer, a CEO, do it to the best of your ability.

4:47 You and I should set the standard for excellence. Other people may show up late. They may complain. They may cut corners, but don't sink down to their level. Well, you say, Joel, everybody's doing it. Yes, but you're not everybody. You're a cut above. You are called to excellence. God wants you to set the highest standard Your company should use you as the example as the model employee Your boss your supervisor should be able to say to the new hires watch that man Learn from that woman pick up their habits develop your skills like they've developed their skills They are the cream of the crop. You know what you're doing. You are honoring god A lot of times we think let me go to church to honor god. Let me read my bible to honor god Let me sing and clap to honor God. And yes, that's true.

5:41 But do you know it honors God just as much to get to work on time? It honors God to be productive each day. It honors God to excel in your career. When you are excellent in the workplace, your whole life is given praise to God. And that's one of the best witnesses we could ever have. Just to show up each day to work on time with a good attitude, friendly, organized, being our best. That's a stronger witness than quoting a dozen scriptures. Our life should give praise to God. In other words, we don't have to say anything. Just the fact that we are people of excellence. We do the right thing whether anybody's watching or not. We're consistently good natured, consistently improving. We do more than we have to. When you have that kind of attitude, it not only gets God's attention, it gets other people's attention. They see the depth of your character. They see your spirit of excellence. You begin to gain influence, credibility, respect. And it's great to honor God on Sundays. It's great to all come in here together to celebrate today. But what I want you to see is you can honor God just as much on Monday, on Tuesday, on Wednesday. When you go to work this week, don't you dare think, oh man, I got to go to work again. What a bummer. No, get up with enthusiasm and say, I get to go to work today to honor God. The scripture says here in Colossians 3 23, whatever you do, do it with all your heart as though you're working under God and not under men. You have to realize you're not just working for people. You're not just working for that company, not even just working to get a paycheck, even though that's part of it. But the truth is you are working under God. He's the one that gave you breath to breathe today. He's the one that woke you up this morning. You may have thought it was the alarm clock, but God was the one that gave you strength to get out of bed. He's the one that's given you your talents, gifts, wisdom,

7:50 creativity. You have a responsibility to use what you have to honor Him. Do you know when you look good, it makes God look good? When you get promoted, God is honored. When you excel and you go around telling people, I got this new position. God's been so good to me. You are exalting God. You're bringing attention to Him. But when we just sit back and dread going to work and we can't wait till five o'clock and we're not growing. We're not applying what we know. We are not being responsible with what God's given us. He has entrusted you with his gifts. He is expecting you to be your very best. Whatever we do, we should do it with our whole heart, not halfway, not with what we can get by with. Do it to the best of your ability. Even small things, mowing the lawn, do it with excellence. You are working under God. When your lawn looks good, you're making God look good. If you're going to sing in the choir, don't show up every other Sunday, not knowing the songs, no enthusiasm. Here I am. I told you I'd come. No, show up like these guys on fire, excited, looking good, feeling good, anointed, equipped, empowered, being their best. That's what honors God. When you understand this principle, it's easy to say, I'm not going to be late to the office today.

9:16 I'm working under God. I'm not going to build this house shoddily, just good enough to get a paycheck. No, I'm working under God. I'm going to do it as precise as I can. At the office, I could kick back and relax. I've done my duty for the day. Nobody would know. But no, I'm not going to waste a couple of hours. I'm working under God. I'm going to help my coworker finish their project. I'm going to organize these files for another colleague. I'm going to keep giving it my best because I'm working under God. Well, you say, Joel, I'd love to do that, but you don't know my boss. He's hard to get along with. You don't know my company. They just don't treat me right. You have to get a new perspective. You are not working for them. You are working under God. If you will start being your best each day and do the right thing, even though the wrong thing is happening, let me assure you, God will take care of your boss.

10:09 He will take care of the people that are doing you wrong. you have an incredible advantage when you work for the creator of the universe. God is the one that brings promotion. He's the one that lifts one up and brings another down. The scripture says God can turn the heart of a king. That simply means God can change your boss's mind. He can cause them to see you in a new light. You don't know, God may have you at that place specifically on purpose so he can do a work in that boss. You may be the only light that person will ever see. They may never read the Bible, but they will read you. When you show up each day with a good attitude, you do the right thing, even though you're not getting the proper credit, and you are consistent, you do it day in and day out, you don't know what kind of impact you're having on that person.

11:03 Keep being your best in spite of who's trying to pull you down.

13:43 At home, we have these big five-gallon bottles of water. They're large glass containers and they have this neck on them and you have to pick them up and turn them over and set them on the dispenser. That's how the water comes out. And they're not only very heavy, but they're extremely awkward. And Victoria likes everything super clean. And even though the part where the water goes in is completely sealed, the receptor goes way up on the inside. You can't even get to it without breaking the seal. But Victoria's pet peeve is that the whole glass bottle gets wiped down with soap and water. Well, after you wipe it down, no matter how much you dry it, it makes it extremely slippery. And I've debated with her several times about why we do not need to wipe the whole bottle down and how it is absolutely positively impossible for germs to get up in there. It is sealed.

14:36 I'm very passionate. I'm very persuasive. But I've never once been able to convince her that we don't need to do it. She likes it wiped down. So I've given her my word that I will always wipe it down. But there have been a few times where we run out of water and I go to the room where we store it and I get the new container and I come back into the pantry where I'm all alone. Nobody can see me. I'm tired. I don't feel like wiping it down. It makes it harder. It makes it so slippery. I know there's no germs on it. But every time I start to put it up, I can hear a small voice right down in here saying, Joel, do the right thing. Be a person of excellence. You've given your word more than once. Don't listen, Victoria. More than once. I've had to take that down, put it on the ground, get the soap and water and clean that sucker off. What am I saying? Excellence is doing the right thing.

15:35 Even when no one can see you, even when you don't think it's necessary. Even when you don't agree, you've given your word. So you're going to live up to it. Sometimes we have to say, God, I don't feel like doing this, but I'm going to do it unto you. God, I don't agree with what my boss is telling me, but I'm going to do it unto you. I didn't make the mess. God, I shouldn't have to clean it up, but I'm going to do it unto you. A lot of people are not experiencing God's favor like they should because they're not passing the small test. Being excellent in the workplace for you may not mean some huge adjustment. It may just mean leaving 10 minutes earlier so you can get to work on time. It may mean not complaining when your supervisor asks you to do something. May mean not making personal phone calls on company time. It's just a small thing.

16:28 Nobody would know. It's not hurting anything. The scripture says it's the little foxes that spoil the vines. If I'd have gone week after week putting the water up without cleaning it, nobody would have known just between me and God. technically I could get away with it. But here's what I've learned. I don't want something small to keep God from releasing something big. I don't want a little thing to keep me from becoming everything that God's created me to be. I remember my father told how when he was just a little boy, five or six years old, he was out in the cotton fields with his father. They were cotton farmers. One day his father gave him a bag of cotton seed and said, John, I want you to go up and down these rows and sprinkle a little seed all along the way. Well, it was hot. My father didn't feel like doing that. So instead he came up with his own plan that he thought was much better.

17:24 He was going to dig one big hole and dump all the seeds into that. So when his father went away for a few minutes, he did just that. He dug the hole and planted every one of those cotton seeds and he didn't think any more about it. But several months later, the strangest thing happened. There were row after row of empty fields. And on this one end, it looked like a jungle. It looked like cotton on steroids. You've never seen anything like this. The scripture says, be sure your sins will find you out. What am I saying? Don't take the easy way out. Sooner or later, it's going to catch up to you. Make a decision with me. You're going to be excellent in the workplace. That not only honors God, but it is one of the best witnesses we could ever have. I know people that can quote half the Bible. They can pray two hours a day, but they have no influence, no credibility, because they're sloppy in the workplace.

18:25 They're always late, always wasting time. They're not productive. They're not efficient. No one will even listen to them. I heard somebody say your performance gives you a platform. When you excel in what you do, that gets people's attention. You can talk to them all day long about your faith, but if they don't see something in you that they want, then it's going to go in one ear and out the other. The way to gain respect, the way to gain influence, is to develop your character and develop your skills in such a way that people are almost envious of you. They may not agree with what you believe, but when you lead the company in sales, they can't argue with that. Something is working. They may make fun of you at the shop, but when you're the best mechanic in the company, you've taken time to develop your skills, then when they can't figure out how to fix the car, they may not like you, but they'll come ask you how to do it.

19:26 What happened? You earned their respect, not by your words, but by your spirit of excellence. Jesus said it this way, let your light shine before men that they may see your good work and praise your father in heaven. He's saying, if you'll develop what God's put in you and excel in your career, then when people see your accomplishments, your character, your worth ethic, that will bring praise to God. We hear the phrase a lot, glory to God. Glory means to make illustrious, to exalt to a higher position. The way we bring glory to God is not just with our words, not just with our praise, but when you excel in the workplace, you are exalting God. When you develop that new software for your department, you just glorified God.

20:19 When you coach your team to a winning season, you glorified God. When you are the example that your company uses to train the new employees, you glorified God. The truth is, we should glorify God more during the week than we do on Sundays. We all already know how great God is in here. We know God can do anything, but when you go out Monday and you close that big sale that you've been working on and your coworkers think, wow, how did he pull that off? You just glorified God. that one accomplishment made God look better. I know a young man that attends here. He has over 50 scholarships to play basketball at major universities. I saw him not long ago, and he had a big game the night before, and I asked him how he did. He had scored 42 points. I said, how many did your team score?

21:13 He said, 80. He had scored more than half the points. You know what he's doing? He's glorifying God. Well, you say, Joel, he just won a basketball game. He just has a lot of talent. Yes, but that's the talent God's given him. And now he's taken time to develop it. He's focused. He's disciplined. He's honoring God by being his best. Do you know there are a lot of talented people sitting on the sideline, a lot of gifted people that are not tapping in to what God put on the inside. And I'm not talking about competing with others and trying to outdo somebody else. I'm talking about honoring God by being the very best that you can be. And every one of us can be excellent at something. You can be an excellent mother. You can be an excellent accountant. You can be an excellent receptionist, one that finds new ways to make the company run smoother.

22:08 People look at you and think, wow, we couldn't make it without that young lady. She is something else. You know what you did? you glorified God. In their mind, you made God more illustrious. You may not be able to win people over with your words. You may not gain their respect with your speech, but when you cause that company to run like a well-oiled machine, then they'll respect you. When you get your students' test scores higher than the experts said, that'll get attention. When you show up on time, go the extra mile, do more than that's expected, that will get noticed. Our attitude should be, I'm going to glorify God this week. I'm going to go out and make God look better. I'm going to make him look more illustrious by being the very best that I can be. When you have a spirit of excellence, you're always sharpening your skills. You're always looking for new ways to grow. Here's a challenge. Whatever you do, get better at it. If you're a carpenter, get better at it. If you're a doctor, get better at it. If you're in sales, get better at it. Find out how you can improve. Study ways that you can become more effective. You should not be at the same skill level next year as you are right now. You should be doing something on purpose to increase your skills. You have to be proactive. We cannot sit back and just expect our talent to automatically increase. God helps the people that help themselves. Can you take courses on the internet?

23:46 Do you have a mentor speaking faith into your life? Are you studying the people ahead of you? Are you learning the next position in line? If you'll take these steps to grow, it not only honors God, but God will open up the right doors. The scripture says your gift will make room for you. You say, Joel, I never see promotion. I never see new doors open. My question is, are you developing your gifts? Are you improving? Are you an employee that the company can't live without? If you were to miss a couple of weeks, do they miss you? Do they feel your impact? God promises is if you'll develop what's in you and continually be improving, he will make sure the right doors will open. But we can't sit back and think, okay, God opened the door and then I'll get ready. No, we have to make the first move. We need to develop a habit of looking for ways to grow.

24:43 It should be a part of our nature. It doesn't matter if we're 90 years old, we're still growing, increasing, improving. I can look back at my messages from when I first started 10 years ago and see how I've improved. Every year I've gotten a little bit better, a little bit better. And the fact is I could have stayed at that same level I was when I started. I wasn't bad. I was okay. Nobody would have complained, but I would not have seen these new doors open. I took time and was disciplined to develop what God's put on the inside. And I believe even five years from now, I'll look back at this message and think, man, I can do it a whole lot better now. I'm constantly studying how I can improve. How can I communicate more effectively? I am proactive when it comes to sharpening my skills. No matter how great you are at what you do right now, you cannot get satisfied. When you stop improving, you stop growing.

25:41 And when you stop growing, that's when you become stagnant. It's very easy to get complacent and lose your enthusiasm start slacking off start cutting corners Why you're not being challenged. There's nothing pushing you I love what it says about david. He played his harp skillfully Notice he didn't just play the harp. He played it with excellence Even with that slingshot when he slung that stone that defeated goliath that was not an accident That wasn't a lucky break David had practiced the slingshot year after year out there in the shepherd's fields. He was extremely talented with that slingshot. Some experts say he could hit a small bullseye more than 100 feet away. What am I saying? He didn't get complacent. He kept improving. And in today's competitive world, with the economy being so tight and businesses being so bottom line oriented, if you're not growing, then you're at a disadvantage. If you're at the same skill level this year as you were five years from now, then you are falling behind. You need to step it up a notch. I saw an article that talked about how to reduce the risk of being laid off.

26:58 There were three main things that businesses looked at when they were thinking about who to lay off and who not to lay off. The people that didn't get laid off, number one, had a positive attitude. Number two, they were versatile. And number three, they were always improving their skills. And so if you want to reduce the chance of unemployment, make sure, number one, you stay positive, stay flexible, and keep growing. Keep increasing. Keep improving. If you will get better at what you do, there will always be a place for you. Your gift will make room. When you're a person of excellence, you do more than expected. You don't take the easy way out. You don't do the minimum requirement. You go the extra mile. That phrase actually comes from the Bible. Jesus said it in Matthew 5, 41.

27:52 If someone asks you to walk a mile with them, do more, go two miles. Here's the context. Back in those days, Roman soldiers, when they were walking through a city, By law, they could require a person to carry their armor for one mile. And after that mile, they'd have to get somebody else. Jesus said, if they ask you to do it one mile, go above and beyond the call of duty. Do more than expected. Carry it two miles. That's the attitude we need to have. Not, I'm just going to do what I have to. I'm going to do the minimum amount to keep my paycheck. No, we are people of excellence. I'm going to go above and beyond what I have to. I'm going to do more than expected. That's the attitude God rewards. One time in the scripture, Abraham sent his servant to another country to find a wife for his son, Isaac. This servant traveled a great distance with 10 camels.

28:47 And around sunset, he came to a well outside of a city. This was a time of day that the young ladies would come and get water for their families. The servant didn't know how he was going to know who the right wife would be for Isaac and who he was going to choose. So he prayed. He said, God, I believe you'll give me a sign. I'm going to ask these ladies for a drink of water. And the one that says, yes, I'll give you a drink. And also let me get your camel some water. I'll know she is the right wife for Isaac. About that time, a beautiful girl named Rebecca came to the well. The servant said, I've traveled a great distance and I don't have a bucket. Do you mind getting me some water? Rebecca said, sure, I will. Not only that, let me get all your camels some water as well. He knew immediately she was the right young lady. But here's what's interesting to me. A camel, after a long day's walk, can drink 30 gallons of water.

29:45 They're like an SUV. Can you imagine the magnitude of what Rebecca did? She said to the servant, yes, I'll not only do what you've asked, but I'll dip down in this well 300 more times and get your 10 camels water as well. That's what I call going the extra mile. She went far beyond the call of duty. Notice what happened. God chose her to marry Isaac. Isaac came from one of the wealthiest, most prominent families of that day. I doubt if Rebecca ever had to reach down into a well 300 times again. What am I saying? God rewards excellence. When you do more than what's required of you, you better get ready. You're going to see God's favor in amazing ways. And I know today, I know today, I am looking at the cream of the crop.

30:40 I'm looking at people that go the extra mile. People that will say with Rebecca, let me get your camel some water. You are people that don't cut corners. You do the right thing, even though no one is watching. You're continually sharpening your skills, growing, increasing, improving? Here's what that tells me. Increase is coming your way. New doors are going to open. New relationships, new connections, new opportunities. Your gift will make room for you. Get up every morning with

34:58 even when you can't see it. As you keep your faith in front of you day after day, you'll be encouraged, your expectation will grow, and you'll begin to see God bring those dreams to pass.