It’s all about character-building so we can be more like Jesus, with the goal of our perfection as believers and followers of Christ to please God.
“An excellent wife who can find? She is more precious than jewels,” says Proverbs 31:10. And how many of us wives aspire to become this Proverbs 31 woman?
My eldest sister, Teresa, and I went to an all-girls private school that focused not just on being academically equipped but also socially and culturally trained. Our days were long—7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.—just like a workday, covering 8 to10 classes daily. English, Reading, Math, Social Studies, Science, Language, and P.E. were staples, along with Home Economics and Music. All the students were used to annual competitions, be it in specific subject matters, singing, dancing, cooking, or baking.
In all our days there, excellence was the goal. We concentrated on high averages for medals and honors. And in our senior year, we dedicated ourselves to scoring high in the national college entrance exam, lest we miss out on the college of our dreams and the careers we wanted to have. But we didn’t forget that we could also be great homemakers when the time came to get married and have a family.
The World’s Definition of Excellence
The world equates excellence with perfection. Fashioncoached.com just set the standard for a woman’s perfect beauty as having “a small waist, long hair, and flawless skin,” reversing the trend of “Stop Body Shaming” and appreciating all women’s sizes and shapes. Of course, there are so many tricks to help achieve this so-called beauty standard today by simply covering up blemishes with expert makeup application, using hair extensions, and wearing Spanx.
Then, we have excellence in education and accomplishments. The US Census Bureau has consistently reported the rise in educational goal attainments, where more people graduate with bachelor’s degrees. Increases are also seen in the completion of master and doctorate degrees. Does this mean we have more perfectly intelligent people living in our midst?
How about wealth? In 2024, Forbes listed 600 young businesspeople under 30, showcasing categories such as social impact, social media, and games. These movers and shakers are building empires and carving names for themselves with creativity and belief in their capacities. They have perfect resumes!
But let’s study Daniel from the Bible right now. When he was taken captive and brought to Babylon, he was one of the top picks for the king’s service. “The king commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility, youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding, learning, and competent to stand in the king’s palace” (Daniel 1:3-4). Daniel ticked all the boxes—from wealth to looks to intelligence. He possessed the perfection that this world desires and idolizes.
As if to tell us how unfair life can be, the already perfect one was rewarded with even more. “The king assigned them [Daniel and the others] a daily portion of the food that the king ate, and of the wine that he drank. They were educated for three years, and at the end of that time they were to stand before the king” (v.5). So the “perfect” one is being groomed to even more perfection!
The Bible’s Definition of Excellence
But what of the biblical definition of excellence? What kind of metrics do we use? While the world focuses on the physical proof of perfection—with perfection defined by flawed people—the Bible points us inward. It talks about and walks us through the process of refining our thoughts, words, and actions. It’s all about character-building so we can be more like Jesus, with the goal of our perfection as believers and followers of Christ to please God.
The Apostle Paul said, “Finally, brothers [and sisters], whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Philippians 4:8). What kind of thoughts do we have for us to be heavily encouraged by Paul to focus on something of value, something that we can really treasure?
Well, Paul also said these words, having experienced the struggle himself: “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want but I do the very thing I hate… For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing” (Romans 7:15, 19). It is clear that our good intention to practice perfection is not enough. We are still being pulled by the world to do otherwise. It constantly reminds us that we can be successful if we are willing to do anything to get ahead, to achieve the perfection and excellence we deserve.
But we know that Daniel defied the call of the world, the king’s “bling” offer. “Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank” (v.8). Here’s a young man making a choice to be faithful to his God. Daniel, along with his friends, asked for vegetables and water for 10 days. “And they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king’s food” (v.15). (Note: “Fatter” meant better nourished in other translations.)
And God rewarded them with “learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams… And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom” (vv.17, 20). Daniel and his friends were the crème de la crème! Nothing compared to their excellence, and it was all because they honored God.
Pursuing Excellence
Kudos to the young, successful entrepreneurs of today! When one has the guts to defy traditional industry markers and is unafraid to pursue potential, you know that there is almost always a hidden gem to uncover.
We live in a dog-eat-dog world, where we compete among ourselves in ridiculous ways—engagement rates from reactions, subscribers, and followers, made up titles like GOAT, OG, and more. Hootsuite even listed essential social media metrics to make sure that we understand what successful presence really means and how we can strategize the effectiveness of our posts. How do we contrast that to throwing away the script and just being ourselves, where people understand our intention better and see the “authentic” us?
When the drive to excel—to get out of the basement and into the penthouse—is our next level, remember that sin is just around the corner. We must not allow it to overcome our desire to please God. John said, “For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world” (1 John 2:16).
The pursuit of excellence is a good thing because we have the knowledge of who our God is, the One who “called us to his own glory and excellence” (1 Peter 1:3). But again, it’s all about character. And Peter’s call is for believers to “make every effort to supplement [our] faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love… For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind… For if [we] practice these qualities [we] will never fall” (vv.5-10).
As women, let us wear God’s strength and dignity as our banner. May wisdom and kindness always spring forth from our mouths. Let us be Kingdom workers. Let our beauty attract others because of the light of Jesus that shines in us. Let our husbands and children praise us, as we find favor from God and give glory to Him! (Proverbs 31:23-31)
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Martin Barraud
Luisa Collopy is an author, speaker and a women’s Bible study teacher. She also produces Mula sa Puso (From the Heart) in Tagalog (her heart language), released on FEBC Philippines stations. Luisa loves spending time with her family over meals and karaoke!
