What makes people successful? What personal characteristics does someone need to be the best? In a Reebok commercial, Emmit Smith said it takes "everything you've got." That means effort and drive. What gives a person drive? Is it the desire to be viewed as successful -- in other words, ego? The Bible says, "The hungrier you are, the harder you work" -- Proverbs 16:26. Is desire for success this basic? Is it just about material needs? Maslow would say, "Yes, but only to a certain point."
We all know that we need to do certain things. For example, parents know they should be concerned about their kid's education. In the past, they may have satisfied this requirement by buying an encyclopedia set. Today, they buy the kids a computer. Educational needs -- check.
We know we should be better Christians so we attend church and Bible class. Check and check.
Does doing these things and checking these boxes really get us closer to the goal of success? They should if they are done right but maybe they are not the things we should measure.
Maybe we like to measure simple, checkbox-like things because it is too hard to measure intelligence, education, or spirituality.
On the other hand, how does God measure success. It seems that God does not measure succes the way the world does. He does not count church services attended, nor passages memorized. God looks at the heart. He wants obedience, not conformity (1 Samuel 15:22).
Obedience to God is what we should strive for. Church attendance and Bible study make it easier to obey but not because we become better people. We can never improve (Romans 3:9-20). However, we can be changed. We can accept that we are dead in our sins but alive in Christ. The new life we live in Christ can make us successful. This is what will enable us to hear Jesus say to us one day, "Well done good and faithful servant" (Matthew 25:21).
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