What is success?
It doesn't matter where you are at in life, you can't avoid the call to be successful. Students are expected to be successful in their academics, in their athletic events, their other extracurricular activities; not to mention, they want to be successful in getting a date to the prom. At work, at play, in relationships, we all want to be successful, right? Success may be the right word for most of these situations, but is that all that our lives are about, being successful? If that is the case, then is it any wonder most of us are rarely happy? Most of the time, do we feel successful?
Kent and Barbara Hughes, in their book, "Liberating Ministry from the Success Syndrome,' note that the Bible consistently links success with obedience to God's Word. One of my favorite passages related to this topic is Joshua 1:7-8, where God tell Joshua that if he wants to be successful, he must "obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go." Isn't that what we all would want, to be successful in all that we do? But, what are we talking about? Is success about winning all the time? Is success about making it to the top? Is it about being the best, the brightest, a Marine?
In an earlier chapter in their book, the Hughes say that success is about serving. When Jesus' disciples argued about who was the greatest, Jesus knelt and washed their feet. Then, he called upon them to do the same--to be obedient and to serve in the same manner that He did. How are we to serve? We are to serve by being obedient to what we have been called to do. Hughes writes, "Never are we greater, never do we know greater joy, never are we more successful than when we are obedient to His will."
What has God called you to do? Before you can be successful, you need to figure that out. We can determine most of what we are to do by reading and listening to His Word. We can also spend time at the feet of the Master and learn from Him. Take time daily to listen to determine how to be obedient.
Godspeed, Phil
It doesn't matter where you are at in life, you can't avoid the call to be successful. Students are expected to be successful in their academics, in their athletic events, their other extracurricular activities; not to mention, they want to be successful in getting a date to the prom. At work, at play, in relationships, we all want to be successful, right? Success may be the right word for most of these situations, but is that all that our lives are about, being successful? If that is the case, then is it any wonder most of us are rarely happy? Most of the time, do we feel successful?
Kent and Barbara Hughes, in their book, "Liberating Ministry from the Success Syndrome,' note that the Bible consistently links success with obedience to God's Word. One of my favorite passages related to this topic is Joshua 1:7-8, where God tell Joshua that if he wants to be successful, he must "obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go." Isn't that what we all would want, to be successful in all that we do? But, what are we talking about? Is success about winning all the time? Is success about making it to the top? Is it about being the best, the brightest, a Marine?
In an earlier chapter in their book, the Hughes say that success is about serving. When Jesus' disciples argued about who was the greatest, Jesus knelt and washed their feet. Then, he called upon them to do the same--to be obedient and to serve in the same manner that He did. How are we to serve? We are to serve by being obedient to what we have been called to do. Hughes writes, "Never are we greater, never do we know greater joy, never are we more successful than when we are obedient to His will."
What has God called you to do? Before you can be successful, you need to figure that out. We can determine most of what we are to do by reading and listening to His Word. We can also spend time at the feet of the Master and learn from Him. Take time daily to listen to determine how to be obedient.
Godspeed, Phil
