"If you haven't made a mistake, you haven't made anything!"
"If you haven't failed, you haven't tried!"
Mother Teresa of Calcutta wisely said, "We are not called to success, but to faithfulness." She also said that "true holiness consists in doing the will of God with a smile." Everyone fails at something sometimes and you haven't lived until you find out that you're human and have limitations. King George III said that you shouldn't try so hard to do what you enjoy, but enjoy what you do. One of my bros. tells me that if you do what you're good at, you may have the opportunity to do what you want to do.
What's a success in your book? [Before we proceed, let me define "success": I do not mean making a certain amount of money, or landing that dream job or getting fame or power, but God making your way prosperous as it says in Ps. 1 for those who are godly; in other words, having God's approval, glory, and blessing in your endeavors.] Furthermore, John wishes that "all may go well with you" in 3 John 2--but we must "never boast, except in the Lord" because 1 Cor. 4:7 says: "Who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you didn't receive?" Think of what George Whitefield said of a man going to the gallows: "There but for the grace of God, go I."
"I am confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living" (Ps. 27:13). It's not about achieving the so-called American dream or cashing in your spiritual lottery ticket and thinking that godliness is a means of financial gain (all false doctrines), but finding fulfillment and meaning in Christ and making an impact in His kingdom, while we influence others to His glory.
Success in the eyes of the world is no sign of God's favor ("For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked," says Ps. 72:3), because the rain falls on the unjust as well as the just and for "those in this world whose reward is in this life" (Ps. 17":14) some people's "portion is in this life," it is written in the Psalms. God blesses all people but some people in all ways and some in some, but all are blessed in some way because God is good--no one can deny that!
The more accurate questions would be: "Are you in the will of God?" If you are, then you are really successful, regardless of what the world thinks. Many people give themselves a pat on the back and congratulate themselves for the success: We deserve no accolades--God gets the glory! (E.g., the self-made Englishman who worships his creator doesn't praise God!) Psa. 100:4 says that "He has made us, and not we ourselves." We seem to be the product of our genes, our environment, our family and friends, and many other factors, but we are not the slave to them by the grace of God--Providence must be put into the equation. The old debate, nature vs. nurture thinks everything can be explained. God must be reckoned with and given the glory--Soli Deo Gloria!
Ambition is not sinful, if to the glory of God and not selfish (Jer. 45:5: "Do you have great plans for yourself?") Isa. 26:12 says, "All that we have accomplished, [God has] done." The Jews were reprimanded by Amos in chapter 6 verse 13: "You who rejoice in the conquest of Lo Debar [nothing] and say, "Did we not take Karnaim by our own strength?" Success is not so much a matter of self-confidence, as God-confidence. We are only responsible for the gifts and opportunities we have. Isa. 45:7 says that God brings prosperity. Deut. 8:18 says that God brings the power to get wealth
If you give yourself the credit or think that it was your hard work that brought you success, it isn't the kind of success God calls us to. "Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God" (2 Cor. 3:5). We are merely vessels of honor that God has used: Providence is at work: "He who is faithful in little, shall be faithful in much." Give God the glory for what He has wrought in you and be like Paul: "I venture not to speak, but of what the Lord has accomplished through me" (Rom. 15:18). To use a cliché, our success is more a matter of trusting, than trying and being a faithful steward of what God gives us, rather than our abilities--"The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong" (Eccl. 9:11). Sin is usually the downfall, not ability or effort.
Many people are hard workers and never get anywhere, and others just seem to inherit or fall into prosperity by fate or destiny, but it is Providence in reality and they are giving God the credit. The book of Eccl. says "Luck and chance happen to all.," which means that there are not explainable events that are attributed to forces other than God--but we know that there is no such thing as an accident or fortuitous event with God, but a time and purpose for everything--there are no maverick molecules!
A note on the will of God:
We have the power and ability to thwart God's preceptive will but not the right--we are culpable for sin, which is the violation of God's revealed will. God's decreed will is none of our business and we are not to seek it. Evil is simply not His plan. Now can you see why necromancy, seances, and fortune-telling are taboo or off-limits? Soli Deo Gloria!
"If you haven't failed, you haven't tried!"
Mother Teresa of Calcutta wisely said, "We are not called to success, but to faithfulness." She also said that "true holiness consists in doing the will of God with a smile." Everyone fails at something sometimes and you haven't lived until you find out that you're human and have limitations. King George III said that you shouldn't try so hard to do what you enjoy, but enjoy what you do. One of my bros. tells me that if you do what you're good at, you may have the opportunity to do what you want to do.
What's a success in your book? [Before we proceed, let me define "success": I do not mean making a certain amount of money, or landing that dream job or getting fame or power, but God making your way prosperous as it says in Ps. 1 for those who are godly; in other words, having God's approval, glory, and blessing in your endeavors.] Furthermore, John wishes that "all may go well with you" in 3 John 2--but we must "never boast, except in the Lord" because 1 Cor. 4:7 says: "Who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you didn't receive?" Think of what George Whitefield said of a man going to the gallows: "There but for the grace of God, go I."
"I am confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living" (Ps. 27:13). It's not about achieving the so-called American dream or cashing in your spiritual lottery ticket and thinking that godliness is a means of financial gain (all false doctrines), but finding fulfillment and meaning in Christ and making an impact in His kingdom, while we influence others to His glory.
Success in the eyes of the world is no sign of God's favor ("For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked," says Ps. 72:3), because the rain falls on the unjust as well as the just and for "those in this world whose reward is in this life" (Ps. 17":14) some people's "portion is in this life," it is written in the Psalms. God blesses all people but some people in all ways and some in some, but all are blessed in some way because God is good--no one can deny that!
The more accurate questions would be: "Are you in the will of God?" If you are, then you are really successful, regardless of what the world thinks. Many people give themselves a pat on the back and congratulate themselves for the success: We deserve no accolades--God gets the glory! (E.g., the self-made Englishman who worships his creator doesn't praise God!) Psa. 100:4 says that "He has made us, and not we ourselves." We seem to be the product of our genes, our environment, our family and friends, and many other factors, but we are not the slave to them by the grace of God--Providence must be put into the equation. The old debate, nature vs. nurture thinks everything can be explained. God must be reckoned with and given the glory--Soli Deo Gloria!
Ambition is not sinful, if to the glory of God and not selfish (Jer. 45:5: "Do you have great plans for yourself?") Isa. 26:12 says, "All that we have accomplished, [God has] done." The Jews were reprimanded by Amos in chapter 6 verse 13: "You who rejoice in the conquest of Lo Debar [nothing] and say, "Did we not take Karnaim by our own strength?" Success is not so much a matter of self-confidence, as God-confidence. We are only responsible for the gifts and opportunities we have. Isa. 45:7 says that God brings prosperity. Deut. 8:18 says that God brings the power to get wealth
If you give yourself the credit or think that it was your hard work that brought you success, it isn't the kind of success God calls us to. "Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God" (2 Cor. 3:5). We are merely vessels of honor that God has used: Providence is at work: "He who is faithful in little, shall be faithful in much." Give God the glory for what He has wrought in you and be like Paul: "I venture not to speak, but of what the Lord has accomplished through me" (Rom. 15:18). To use a cliché, our success is more a matter of trusting, than trying and being a faithful steward of what God gives us, rather than our abilities--"The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong" (Eccl. 9:11). Sin is usually the downfall, not ability or effort.
Many people are hard workers and never get anywhere, and others just seem to inherit or fall into prosperity by fate or destiny, but it is Providence in reality and they are giving God the credit. The book of Eccl. says "Luck and chance happen to all.," which means that there are not explainable events that are attributed to forces other than God--but we know that there is no such thing as an accident or fortuitous event with God, but a time and purpose for everything--there are no maverick molecules!
A note on the will of God:
We have the power and ability to thwart God's preceptive will but not the right--we are culpable for sin, which is the violation of God's revealed will. God's decreed will is none of our business and we are not to seek it. Evil is simply not His plan. Now can you see why necromancy, seances, and fortune-telling are taboo or off-limits? Soli Deo Gloria!