When success, comfort, and desire begin to shape the heart
In the first article, we saw why Excellence matters. In the second, we saw how Excellence grows through discipline, self-control, perseverance, godliness, and love. But Excellence does not only need to be pursued and developed. It also needs to be preserved.
A person can grow in wisdom, skill, influence, and opportunity, yet still slowly lose spiritual strength and direction. That is why this question matters: once Excellence begins to grow, how do we continue walking in it faithfully?
Solomon’s life gives one of the clearest and most sobering answers in Scripture.
”Solomon’s Wisdom Was Greater” — 1 Kings 4:30
When God invited Solomon to ask for anything, Solomon asked for wisdom to lead God’s people well. God honored that request and gave him extraordinary wisdom, and Scripture says, “Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the people of the East.”
Solomon became one of the clearest examples of wisdom and Excellence in Scripture. His wisdom shaped public life, leadership, judgment, worship, and the kingdom itself. He judged difficult matters with insight, built the temple of God, organized the kingdom with remarkable order, and became known throughout the surrounding nations for his wisdom and understanding.
His life shows what can happen when God gives a person gifts, responsibility, influence, and Excellence. But that is also what makes Solomon’s story such an important warning. The danger came after abundance, success, comfort, and achievement entered his life.
”King Solomon, However…” — 1 Kings 11:1
As Solomon’s kingdom expanded, so did his wealth, influence, possessions, pleasures, and access to everything the world could offer. Scripture repeatedly describes the scale of his prosperity — gold, horses, chariots, palaces, servants, and countless luxuries. The kingdom flourished outwardly, but inwardly something slower and more dangerous was taking place.
This is one of the quieter dangers connected to Excellence. When people grow in wisdom, success, influence, and opportunity, life often becomes more comfortable. More doors open. More pleasures become available. More distractions become normal. Without realizing it, the heart can slowly move from gratitude and surrender toward appetite and self-focus.
Solomon’s fall was not simply intellectual failure. It was not a lack of capability. It was a gradual surrender to self-indulgence and divided desires.
”His Heart Was Not Fully Devoted” — 1 Kings 11:4
Later, Scripture gives a sobering description of Solomon: “His heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God.”
That sentence explains the deeper problem. Solomon still had wisdom. He still had power. He still had Excellence in many outward ways. But the center of his life had slowly changed. His desires were no longer fully surrendered to God.
This is why self-indulgence is spiritually dangerous. It slowly trains the heart to revolve around comfort, pleasure, appetite, entertainment, and personal satisfaction. A person may still appear productive and successful outwardly while inwardly becoming weaker in devotion, discipline, prayer, and obedience.
The Modern Shape of Self-Indulgence
Many Christians today live with more wealth, entertainment, comfort, food, convenience, and access than most people in history. Yet abundance itself can quietly become a spiritual danger when it teaches us to avoid discipline and constantly feed desire.
Self-indulgence does not always appear dramatic or obviously sinful. Sometimes it looks normal and socially accepted, such as spending hours in endless scrolling and entertainment, eating and drinking more than we need, avoiding responsibility, filling every quiet moment with distraction, delaying difficult things, and repeatedly choosing comfort when discipline is required.
The enemy does not always need to make people openly reject God. Sometimes it is enough to keep the heart entertained, comfortable, distracted, overfed, spiritually dull, and too busy consuming to pursue what truly matters. A life can slowly lose its spiritual sharpness not because it lacked gifts or Excellence, but because its desires were never brought under God.
”I Will Not Be Mastered by Anything” — 1 Corinthians 6:12
Scripture gives a powerful warning: “‘I have the right to do anything,’ you say—but not everything is beneficial. ‘I have the right to do anything’—but I will not be mastered by anything.”
That is the secret for preserving Excellence. Something may be allowed, available, common, and socially acceptable, yet still slowly become a master.
So Christians must learn to ask deeper questions. Not only, “Is this wrong?” but also, “Is this mastering me? Is this weakening my devotion? Is this making me less faithful with what God has entrusted to me?”
Excellence is preserved when gifts remain surrendered and desires remain under God.
Preserving What God Has Grown
Solomon’s story is not included in Scripture so that we look down on him. It is there to warn us. If a man with such wisdom, blessing, and Excellence could slowly drift through self-indulgence and divided devotion, then all of us must take the direction of the heart seriously.
So we do not only pursue Excellence. We preserve it. We preserve it by bringing our desires before God, resisting what masters us, and keeping our hearts fully devoted to Him.
Excellence grows through diligence and discipline. But Excellence is preserved through surrender.
