Catching Excellence
What link is made between striving for excellence and receiving rewards in heaven? In today's episode of My Morning Devotional, Gaby Alessi…
Choose your favorite podcast player
Feb. 6, 2025
Catching Excellence
What link is made between striving for excellence and receiving rewards in heaven?
In today's episode of My Morning Devotional, Gaby Alessi explores the theme of "Catching Excellence," using Colossians 3:23-24 as a foundation. She encourages us to pour our hearts into every area of our lives—be it work, relationships, or personal projects—emphasizing that such wholehearted dedication leads to excellence. Gaby reminds us of the ultimate heavenly reward for our efforts and uses Vince Lombardi's quote to inspire us to chase perfection and catch excellence.
Join us for a reflective devotional and a closing prayer to reignite our passion for excellence.
BECOME A FOUNDING "MY MORNING DEVOTIONAL" MEMBER
If you enjoy your 5 minute daily dose of heaven, we would appreciate your support, and we have a fun way for you to partner with the MMD community!
We've launched our "Buy Me a Coffee" membership where you can buy us a latte, OR become a founding member and get monthly bonus video episodes!
To donate, go to mymorningdevo.co/join!
NEW TO MY MORNING DEVOTIONAL?
We're so glad you're here!
We're the Alessis, a ministry family working together in a church in Miami, FL, and we're so blessed to partner with the My Morning Devotional community and continue the great work done by the show's creator and our friend, Alison Delamota.
Here’s how to join our community!
- Subscribe to the show on this app
- Share this with a friend
- Follow Us on Instagram and Facebook
- Leave a review
- KEEP UP WITH ALISON: https://alisondelamota.com
IG: https://instagram.com/alisondelamota
https://instagram.com/delamarried
NEW WORSHIP MUSIC
Hear the new music project "Praise the Lord EP" from Metro Life Worship and Mary Alessi
Listen on Spotify
Watch on YouTube
Transcript
WEBVTT
00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:21.079
You're listening to the My Morning Devotional podcast, episode 1199. Today's Devo is called Catching Excellence. Hey there. We're the Alessi's a ministry family working together in our church in Miami, Florida. And if you're like us, when days get busy and to do lists get longer, it can be hard to find devotional time.
00:00:21.199 --> 00:01:58.712
That's why we've partnered with our friend Allison to produce a five minute daily dose of heaven. This is the My Morning Devotional podcast. Well, good morning, everybody. Happy Thursday. This is Gabby Alessi, your host for the week. I have great news because we are one day away from 1200 episodes. That is a huge, huge success and accomplishment. And I'm just honored that I am leading the 1200 episode or tomorrow I will be. And I think you'll, you'll really like it because 1200 is, it's kind of like in alignment with completion. And you know what? I'm not gonna get to it, but listen to tomorrow's. But today it's Thursday. And you know, I think today's verse is perfect for a Thursday because sometimes Thursdays can just feel long and you just are ready for the weekend and you need an encouragement to get through the week. And so we're finding this encouragement. In Colossians 3.23, verse 24, it says this. Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you'll receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. I want to focus on the word that says work heartily here. I was really blessed by this passage of scripture and we actually, we taught on this, I taught on this with the pre service rally we had at church this Sunday. And we were talking about working heartily, which, which ultimately means doing something with your heart, with your whole heart. And all of us can tell when someone does something at work or in their, in their marriage or even with their children. You can tell when someone has their heart in it and when someone doesn't have their heart in it.
00:01:58.896 --> 00:03:18.306
And what happens is when our heart's not in something, we start to compromise or slack on what's important. So, for example, if, if your heart's not in your job, you're not passionate anymore, you start to get to work late, you know, you're not going above and beyond on what's being asked of you anymore. You lack passion or ideas for different, different projects that you might be given and, you know, losing heart. This can be said for everything in our lives. You know, a Lot of times we think it's just your job that you lose heart for. But a lot of people struggle because maybe you lose heart in your marriage. Maybe you're losing heart in your single season and finding the right one. And every time you go on a date or you try a dating app or you try to reach out to this person, all roads lead to heartbreak or disappointment. Man. You can even lose heart when you're trying to raise children and your kids might be. It might be giving you. Giving you problems, and you just don't feel like you're getting it as a mom or you're getting it as a dad, and you don't feel like you're in control of your home. And so when you. When you hit disappointment and when you hit problems, what happens is we just start to lose heart. There's a way that we lose heart in any situation. But ultimately, working hardily means being excellent.
00:03:18.497 --> 00:04:07.819
I love that. I love that. Working hard is brought up in the Bible. Can we just say God loves when we work hard. You know why? Because he works hard. So I love that it's talking about this. But what I see here is when we are working with our heart, it means being excellent in everything that we do. I will put my heart into this job, this relationship, this role in my church, my role as a parent, my startup business. I want to work heartily in my business. Why? Because I'm chasing excellence. When we are working with our heart, we are being excellent. And God calls us to do everything in excellence. So you see two things here. When we work heartily for the lord, we understand two things. And you see it here in Colossians 3, 24. It says this, number one, when we work heartily for the Lord, we do it for God, not the attention of man.
00:04:08.280 --> 00:05:09.569
We do it for the Lord. Sometimes we will lose heart because we lack the attention of man. But when we change our focus, I do it for God, we can continue to have the heart to work hard. The number two, we have to remind ourselves our reward is the inheritance in heaven. We might not experience the reward here on earth. We might never see the fruit of our labor here on earth. But I can encourage you right now, you will see it when you get to heaven. Even that, that job, that's a corporate job that has nothing to do with God. The work that you do there, your reward is in heaven. Even in that relationship that you don't feel like is God centered. But when you put God at the center and you work hard for that relationship, your reward is the inheritance that is in heaven. We will see it one day. We just might not see it right now. But that doesn't mean we stop striving for it. That doesn't mean we stop trying to be excellent.
00:05:10.069 --> 00:05:32.500
So think about it today. How can you be excellent in your job? How can you be excellent in your marriage? How can you strive for excellence and work with your whole heart? Ultimately, working heartily means being excellent. So today, work with your whole heart. Work with everything in you. Put your heart into it. If you feel like you've lost heart, try to gain it again.
00:05:32.620 --> 00:06:27.283
We're going to pray in a minute that God would give you the heart for it and strive for excellence. I love this quote to finish us off here. It's from Vince Lombardi, famous football coach. It says, gentlemen, he's talking to his football players. Gentlemen, we will chase perfection and we will chase it relentlessly, knowing all the while we can never attain it. But along the way, we shall catch excellence. My prayer for you today is that we will chase and we will look towards and we will strive to put our heart into everything we do. And we will catch excellence along the way. Lord, we thank you for today. We thank you that everything you've given us in our lives is for a reason. We thank you that we have an inheritance and we have reward in heaven. But we pray that you would stir up a heart for the things of our lives again. Help us fall in love with everything in our lives again so we can work in an excellent way.
00:06:27.372 --> 00:06:41.706
In Jesus name, amen. So there you have it, your 5 minute daily dose of heaven. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We pray these devotionals empower you to take on your day. If you found value in this devotional, share it with a friend.
00:06:41.827 --> 00:06:45.661
Leave a comment or review for us on the app you're using right now.
00:06:45.766 --> 00:06:50.430
Until tomorrow. We pray that your latte is strong, but your love for Jesus is stronger.
00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:21.079
You're listening to the My Morning Devotional podcast, episode 1199. Today's Devo is called Catching Excellence. Hey there. We're the Alessi's a ministry family working together in our church in Miami, Florida. And if you're like us, when days get busy and to do lists get longer, it can be hard to find devotional time.
00:00:21.199 --> 00:01:58.712
That's why we've partnered with our friend Allison to produce a five minute daily dose of heaven. This is the My Morning Devotional podcast. Well, good morning, everybody. Happy Thursday. This is Gabby Alessi, your host for the week. I have great news because we are one day away from 1200 episodes. That is a huge, huge success and accomplishment. And I'm just honored that I am leading the 1200 episode or tomorrow I will be. And I think you'll, you'll really like it because 1200 is, it's kind of like in alignment with completion. And you know what? I'm not gonna get to it, but listen to tomorrow's. But today it's Thursday. And you know, I think today's verse is perfect for a Thursday because sometimes Thursdays can just feel long and you just are ready for the weekend and you need an encouragement to get through the week. And so we're finding this encouragement. In Colossians 3.23, verse 24, it says this. Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you'll receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. I want to focus on the word that says work heartily here. I was really blessed by this passage of scripture and we actually, we taught on this, I taught on this with the pre service rally we had at church this Sunday. And we were talking about working heartily, which, which ultimately means doing something with your heart, with your whole heart. And all of us can tell when someone does something at work or in their, in their marriage or even with their children. You can tell when someone has their heart in it and when someone doesn't have their heart in it.
00:01:58.896 --> 00:03:18.306
And what happens is when our heart's not in something, we start to compromise or slack on what's important. So, for example, if, if your heart's not in your job, you're not passionate anymore, you start to get to work late, you know, you're not going above and beyond on what's being asked of you anymore. You lack passion or ideas for different, different projects that you might be given and, you know, losing heart. This can be said for everything in our lives. You know, a Lot of times we think it's just your job that you lose heart for. But a lot of people struggle because maybe you lose heart in your marriage. Maybe you're losing heart in your single season and finding the right one. And every time you go on a date or you try a dating app or you try to reach out to this person, all roads lead to heartbreak or disappointment. Man. You can even lose heart when you're trying to raise children and your kids might be. It might be giving you. Giving you problems, and you just don't feel like you're getting it as a mom or you're getting it as a dad, and you don't feel like you're in control of your home. And so when you. When you hit disappointment and when you hit problems, what happens is we just start to lose heart. There's a way that we lose heart in any situation. But ultimately, working hardily means being excellent.
00:03:18.497 --> 00:04:07.819
I love that. I love that. Working hard is brought up in the Bible. Can we just say God loves when we work hard. You know why? Because he works hard. So I love that it's talking about this. But what I see here is when we are working with our heart, it means being excellent in everything that we do. I will put my heart into this job, this relationship, this role in my church, my role as a parent, my startup business. I want to work heartily in my business. Why? Because I'm chasing excellence. When we are working with our heart, we are being excellent. And God calls us to do everything in excellence. So you see two things here. When we work heartily for the lord, we understand two things. And you see it here in Colossians 3, 24. It says this, number one, when we work heartily for the Lord, we do it for God, not the attention of man.
00:04:08.280 --> 00:05:09.569
We do it for the Lord. Sometimes we will lose heart because we lack the attention of man. But when we change our focus, I do it for God, we can continue to have the heart to work hard. The number two, we have to remind ourselves our reward is the inheritance in heaven. We might not experience the reward here on earth. We might never see the fruit of our labor here on earth. But I can encourage you right now, you will see it when you get to heaven. Even that, that job, that's a corporate job that has nothing to do with God. The work that you do there, your reward is in heaven. Even in that relationship that you don't feel like is God centered. But when you put God at the center and you work hard for that relationship, your reward is the inheritance that is in heaven. We will see it one day. We just might not see it right now. But that doesn't mean we stop striving for it. That doesn't mean we stop trying to be excellent.
00:05:10.069 --> 00:05:32.500
So think about it today. How can you be excellent in your job? How can you be excellent in your marriage? How can you strive for excellence and work with your whole heart? Ultimately, working heartily means being excellent. So today, work with your whole heart. Work with everything in you. Put your heart into it. If you feel like you've lost heart, try to gain it again.
00:05:32.620 --> 00:06:27.283
We're going to pray in a minute that God would give you the heart for it and strive for excellence. I love this quote to finish us off here. It's from Vince Lombardi, famous football coach. It says, gentlemen, he's talking to his football players. Gentlemen, we will chase perfection and we will chase it relentlessly, knowing all the while we can never attain it. But along the way, we shall catch excellence. My prayer for you today is that we will chase and we will look towards and we will strive to put our heart into everything we do. And we will catch excellence along the way. Lord, we thank you for today. We thank you that everything you've given us in our lives is for a reason. We thank you that we have an inheritance and we have reward in heaven. But we pray that you would stir up a heart for the things of our lives again. Help us fall in love with everything in our lives again so we can work in an excellent way.
00:06:27.372 --> 00:06:41.706
In Jesus name, amen. So there you have it, your 5 minute daily dose of heaven. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We pray these devotionals empower you to take on your day. If you found value in this devotional, share it with a friend.
00:06:41.827 --> 00:06:45.661
Leave a comment or review for us on the app you're using right now.
00:06:45.766 --> 00:06:50.430
Until tomorrow. We pray that your latte is strong, but your love for Jesus is stronger.