The More Excellent Way

by Naomi
from Virtuous Daughters, June 2014~Volume 14, Number 3

“Duty makes us do things well; love makes us do them beautifully.

“Duty makes us do things well; love makes us do them beautifully.”
   
That is certainly an interesting saying, but how true! Let’s check out the first part—“Duty makes us do things well.” Everyone has a job, right? A job is the same as a duty. It is my duty to sweep the dining room floor after supper each night! It is my duty to make my bed each morning. We all know the Bible verse, And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men. So, we want to do our work well! But still, we often see it just as a job, a duty that we must do and do well. We do it well to please our authorities, but we don’t go the extra mile. We don’t do something extra well.
   
But suppose the person you loved best in the entire world was there, and, whoever they were, asked you to set the table or clean your room. Don’t you think you’d go and set the table extra carefully? You’d probably make sure the tablecloth hung just so, the chairs were all even, the napkins were folded, and the silverware, plates, and spoons done perfectly. Then, you might go out and get a bouquet of flowers, and put them exactly in the center. That would be done beautifully!
   
Say you cleaned your room. It wouldn’t be just straightened, but it would be done beautifully. When that person that you loved best came into your room, you’d want to exclaim with delight, because of how beautifully you’d fulfilled their wishes.
   
See the difference? If it’s just a boring old job, it’ll probably be done well, but not beautifully. But when somebody you love is there, it would turn into a pleasure to be done, and to be done beautifully.
   
What if that same person told you to practice a piano piece for them? Instead of doing what you have to, and only that, you’d probably practice so that it could be perfect and a beautiful piece for that person.
   
And now, I think I can add a little something extra. We love the Lord, right? So our Bible reading, our prayer, our duties, whatever that “your hand findeth to do,” that should be done beautifully, and we should consider it a pleasure. Let’s not treat something the Lord asks us to do as a drudge, but as a joy! Serving the Lord, and in serving Him, serving others, should be a joy, a pleasure, because we love Him, and it should be done extra well, because we love Him.
   
​Yes, it is indeed true that “Duty makes us do things well; love makes us do them beautifully.”