“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” — 2 Timothy 2:15, NIV
One way to start something in a positive way is to be determined to do your best. When we try our best, we have confidence that we are doing all we can to be fruitful in our efforts. Even when the outcome isn’t what we hoped, we did our part to make things better.
Sometimes we may not feel like trying. We may have a class that does not feel worth our time and energy, or perhaps we are starting a new project at work or around the house, but we don’t know if it’s worth the effort. However, even if we do not feel like the outcome is worth what we put in, we should make it our goal to try our best at what we have committed to God.
Colossians 3:23 says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.” Doing our best requires us to have our heart and attitude in the right place. When we view work as a gift in serving the Lord, even if that chapter does not end how we were hoping, we may have peace knowing we honored God with our actions.