Don't Settle

Don't settle. Keep moving forward.

One of the greatest threats to excellence and achievement is a spirit of complacency. There's something about familiarity and convenience that saps the drive out of people for greatness and the extraordinary. Let me say very quickly that this is not of God. The God we serve is a God of Excellence. Everything He does is the Best! So we as His children should not do otherwise. However, there are more than a few believers who have been afflicted and infected by this spirit of complacency, and the word that I want to give to all of is, don't settle.

It's easy to get comfortable with where you are. No struggle, no strife, no stress; all of this sounds like the way to go. However, all of these "preferences" are simply a recipe for mediocrity. We don't serve a mediocre God. Therefore, as the children of God, we cannot afford to become complacent. We can't afford to "settle."

Regardless of what area it is in your life, you don't need to settle for "less than" or "good enough." You need to expect God's Best. And you receive God's Best by giving your best. That doesn't mean that you "are" the best, or even that you're "at your best"; but it means that you're being diligent to give the best that you have to whatever situation you find yourself in.

Some of us are settling for mediocre marriages. Some of us are settling for average children. Some of us are settling for "ok" jobs. Some of us are settling for "lukewarm" churches and sub-par spirituality. I want to say again, this is not the will of God. If your marriage is not where it needs to be, don't settle. If you're not working a job that maximizes your gifts and talents, don't settle. If you're in a church where you know there's a spiritual ceiling and your growth has become environmentally stunted, don't settle. You've got to believe that God has more in store for you. But remember, God acts according to our faith. So if you don't believe, God is not obliged to move on your behalf (Matthew 9).

What will allow us not to settle is to have the Word of God established as the Standard of our lives. The reason why mediocrity and average is prevailing in so many believers' lives is because we're no longer being regulated by the Will and Word of God. I didn't say we don't "believe" the Word of God, I said we're not regulated by the Word of God. When your heart and mind is regulated by the Word of God, then the standard is set, whether you're living up to it or not. You know that, whether you're in alignment with the Will of God or not, you know what that standard is. And because of your love for God, you press and you strive to have God's Divine will manifested and performed in your life. 

So, no matter how many times you fall, no matter how many times you fail, you keep on striving, you keep on pressing. That's what it means not to settle.  You never get to a point where you grow satisfied or content with that which God has not ordained for you. This is what Jesus means by "keeping His Commandments" (John 14). Pleas Saints, whatever you do, don't settle.