Redefining Success
Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil. (Proverbs 4:25-27)
In our world today, there are many people stuck, upset, frustrated, and flat out stressed out with life because they made life decisions based upon how something appeared, only to have their dream become a nightmare. They find themselves in a place where they are praying, praising, and listening to preaching to try to see if God will fix up what they messed up.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of believing that our success is measured by the kind of labels we wear, the size of our bank account, and the amount of square footage in our home. And to take it one step further, we think if we don’t acquire these kinds of success on a certain timeline, we have somehow failed. If you aren’t married with 2.5 kids by the age of 27, if you don’t own a house by the age of 32, or if you don’t make six figures by the age of 40, you’re doing something wrong.
In reality, none of that is true. There is a not a specific timeline we are all supposed to be following. There is not a success check list we are all supposed to be living by. Instead of chasing all of these standards the world has set, we need to be looking at success the way God does.
Think about the final week of Jesus’ life on earth. From our perspective, the events of that week would look like anything but success. During that week, He would be tried, convicted, beaten, and finally executed. The same people praising Him at the beginning of the week would later cry, “Crucify Him!” The disciples who began the week following Him would end up denying Him and betraying Him. Who in their right mind would call that week a success?
But that’s exactly the point. It was through this week that God redefined success. He showed us that His definition of success is different than ours, and that we have to learn to seek wisdom and perspective from Him rather than filtering everything through our limited human perspective.
Success doesn’t always look the way you think it should. But if you’re trying to be successful according to God’s definition, you’ll never go wrong.
In our world today, there are many people stuck, upset, frustrated, and flat out stressed out with life because they made life decisions based upon how something appeared, only to have their dream become a nightmare. They find themselves in a place where they are praying, praising, and listening to preaching to try to see if God will fix up what they messed up.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of believing that our success is measured by the kind of labels we wear, the size of our bank account, and the amount of square footage in our home. And to take it one step further, we think if we don’t acquire these kinds of success on a certain timeline, we have somehow failed. If you aren’t married with 2.5 kids by the age of 27, if you don’t own a house by the age of 32, or if you don’t make six figures by the age of 40, you’re doing something wrong.
In reality, none of that is true. There is a not a specific timeline we are all supposed to be following. There is not a success check list we are all supposed to be living by. Instead of chasing all of these standards the world has set, we need to be looking at success the way God does.
Think about the final week of Jesus’ life on earth. From our perspective, the events of that week would look like anything but success. During that week, He would be tried, convicted, beaten, and finally executed. The same people praising Him at the beginning of the week would later cry, “Crucify Him!” The disciples who began the week following Him would end up denying Him and betraying Him. Who in their right mind would call that week a success?
But that’s exactly the point. It was through this week that God redefined success. He showed us that His definition of success is different than ours, and that we have to learn to seek wisdom and perspective from Him rather than filtering everything through our limited human perspective.
Success doesn’t always look the way you think it should. But if you’re trying to be successful according to God’s definition, you’ll never go wrong.
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