IT’S THE QUESTION OF THE WEEK.
It comes from Dennis Knight of Elk City, Oklahoma, and he wins a free book for his trouble.
Here’s his question:
What is success from a biblical standpoint?
It just so happens that I have a section on what the Bible says about success in my book Stephen M. Miller’s Bible Snapshots.
Have a look.
SUCCESS
Success for a Christian doesn’t look anything like success in the business world—exactly the opposite, in fact. At least as the Bible tells it.
- He [Jesus] began washing his disciples’ feet. . . . Then he said: “Do you understand what I have done. . . . I have set the example, and you should do for each other exactly what I have done for you. . . . God will bless you, if you do them” (John 13:5, 12, 15, 17, CEV). Leaders in God’s kingdom don’t strut. They kneel.
- You’ve observed how godless rulers throw their weight around, how quickly a little power goes to their heads. It’s not going to be that way with you. Whoever wants to be great must become a servant. Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not be served (Matthew 20:25-28, MSG).
- I realized that we work and do wonderful things just because we are jealous of others. This makes no more sense than chasing the wind (Ecclesiastes 4:4, CEV). The reason this kind of success is meaningless: we die and our success dies with us. “We all come to the end of our lives as naked and empty-handed as on the day we were born” (Ecclesiastes 5:15).
- You can’t worship God and Money both (Matthew 6:24, MSG).
- Commit to the Lord everything you do. Then your plans will succeed (Proverbs 16:3, NIRV).
David
It’s interesting you mention this here. The Bible’s definition of success is totally different than the world’s. I’ve been teaching lessons on this idea entitled, Epic Failures of the Bible. Using the idea that real success is living a life defined by God’s desires. If we look at various people in scripture, they would totally be viewed as failures by the world. Great post!
http://woodlandoaks.org/2013/03/04/spring-quarter-2013/