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Success God's Wayby Steve Cox,
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A motivational speaker I once heard said: “No one wakes up in the morning saying to himself, I think I want to be a failure today.” Virtually all of us want to be successful as we live out our lives. But as we stop to consider whether we have been successful today, or successful so far in our lives, this thought raises a number of questions for us. In order to determine whether we are, have been, or will be, successful, we first have to define what success is. The dictionary definition of success is “setting a goal and achieving it.” This seems pretty straightforward. But this obviously leads to the questions “What goals should I set? If I set wrong or insufficient goals, I will not be truly successful, even if I meet those goals. Is there a better way to define and understand success?” Dr. Charles Stanley, in his book Success God’s Way, stresses the need for each one of us to avoid using the dictionary (the world’s) definition of success and to make sure we are using a biblical definition for success. According to Stanley, God’s definition of success is: “the continuing achievement of becoming the person God wants you to be and accomplishing the goals God has helped (or directed) you to set.” This definition of success has three very important distinctions from the world’s definition. First, the one that sets the goals is God, not us. The Apostle Paul stands out as an individual who set his goals based on God’s plans, not his own. In Philippians 3, Paul tells us his ultimate goal is to intimately “know Christ”. In I Corinthians 10, he instructs us to “do all things to the glory of God.” These principles can help us structure our own goals, our plan for success, by asking questions related to these principles. As I prayerfully consider my plans and activities, I can ask: “Will what I am hoping to do help me, or others, to know Christ better? And will what I have set as goals ultimately glorify God?” Second, God’s definition of success emphasizes “being”
(our character), as well as “doing” (accomplishing tasks).
In relation to our character, the Apostle Peter raises this question:
“What kind of people ought you to be?” (2 Peter 3:11)
In I Corinthians 3, we are told our goal is to be transformed into Christ’s
likeness. In other words, we are to make it our intention, by God’s
grace and power, to progressively take on Christ’s character. We
are to consider ourselves successful if we are growing in character
traits such as “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness and Third, God’s view of success is “process oriented” rather
than “goal oriented.” Most of us human beings are goal oriented.
We like to get things done. We like to check things off of our lists,
giving us that sense of accomplishment. But you have probably noticed
that in your walk with the Lord, there is some sense we are never quite
done. There is always more to do, and we could always do a little bit
better or (frankly) a lot better. For some of us, this can be frustrating,
or even discouraging. As Paul tells the Thessalonian believers, “in
fact, you do love all the brothers . . . yet we urge you . . . to do
so more and more” (1Thessalonians 4:10). There is always more
we can do to improve. But godly success is a process, not a checklist
of do’s and don’ts. The psalmist compares those of us who
seek to delight in and follow God’s ways to be “like a
tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and
whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers” (Psalm
1:3). Prosperity is another biblical word for success. As followers
of Jesus Christ, we need to see our success like fruit on a tree. The
tree strives to grow in bearing more fruit, and better fruit, as it
flourishes. But ideally it does not quit bearing fruit until it dies.
We are to celebrate the process: that we are growing in knowing God,
that we are helping others to know and love God, and that we are taking
on more of the character of Christ. And we want to continue in that
process until the day we meet our Lord, hoping to hear him say “Well
done, good and faithful servant!” (Matthew 25:21) By His power,
may we be a success in His eyes.
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