Hint: It isn’t about what you have, it’s about Who you know. It affects everything else for the better in your life.
The meaning of the word “success” is so squishy. It seems like everyone has their own definition.
In fact, our ideas about “success” are rooted directly in our respective value systems.
For instance, Western capitalist societies tend to prize individuality, wealth, possessions, power, position, comfort and entertainment, often in pursuit of the “American Dream.”
Asian cultures value fulfilling family responsibilities, social/collective harmony, and achieving respect within a curated social structure.
Additionally, many subcultures value things like authenticity, creativity and purpose. It goes on and on.
The point is, that our ideas about “success” shape the direction of our entire lives — wrong values = wrong direction.
Incidentally, this emphasizes the critical role parents and families play in setting the right course for their children.
So where does God fit into this picture? Glad you asked.
The stakes are high here, folks.
No one was more countercultural than Jesus of Nazareth when He said plainly, in Mark 8:35-37:
“For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it benefit (profit) a person to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? For what could a person give in exchange for his soul?”
Think of our national “heroes,” movie stars, captains of industry, Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, “big-shot” financial executives, politicians, power brokers, “influencers,” sports stars, etc.
While they make headlines, do you think they merit such attention in Heaven? Would you swap souls with the so-called moguls of this world?
Consider the values pushed forward routinely in our newspapers, news programs, magazines, entertainment, social media, etc. How about looking at what makes the front page with God …
What constitutes success in God’s eyes?
From John 17:3: “… and this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”
After I first met my wife-to-be, Ann, if someone asked me, “Do you know Ann?” I would have answered, “sure I know Ann.”
But if you asked the same question of me today, having been married to Ann for 36 years, I would answer, “Do I know Ann? Boy, you bet I KNOW Ann, we’ve been through thick and thin together!”
Same word, “know,” but vastly different meanings depending on the context.
At first, I only really knew about Ann. Thirty-six years later, I know Ann as lived in present experience. It is the same with our relationship with God.
So, what is true success?
Knowing God … Period. Everything else in a person’s life is secondary. Everything.
In the above passage, God links knowing Him to eternal life. Isn’t that the ultimate mark of success in God’s eyes? To know God is to have eternal life.
So, if success in God’s eyes boils down to knowing Him, let’s look at a man who could arguably be called the most successful man in the Bible — yet in the world, he would be considered the “least likely to succeed.”
From Luke 23:39-43: “One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, ‘Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!’ But the other responded, and rebuking him, said, ‘Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our crimes; but this Man has done nothing wrong.’ And he was saying, ‘Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom!’ And He (Jesus) said to him, ‘Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.’”
I know it seems a stretch to call a lifelong felon “successful,” but this we know, he ended up in Paradise with Jesus, presumably having never drawn a religious breath his whole life.
He did the one thing that mattered — he came to KNOW Jesus in the intimate way possible — as His Savior. Not merely about Him, but in lived experience.
How About You?
What would you like to have people say about you as your loved ones gather around your gravesite? “He made a lot of money”? “He owned a big house”? “He was a nice guy”? “He’s in a better place now”?
Or would you rather hear people say, “He knew God.” And because of that, we KNOW where he is today.
As written in 1 John 4:7-9, “Beloved, let’s love one another; for love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. By this the love of God was revealed in us, that God has sent His only Son into the world so that we may live through Him.”
4-1-1
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