What is Success?

Q: How do you measure your success? Does success equal happiness?

A: What is success? The Bible tells us, not the world.

The Word says:

"13The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man." (Eccl. 12:13)

And Jesus in the Word spells this success out very clearly:

"37And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

38This is the great and first commandment.

39And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

40On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” "

(Matt. 22:37-40)

Christians can live in success every single day of their lives. Yet in addition to this, there is a GOAL we as Christians should SUCCEED at reaching: individual and corporate maturity in Christ. This is when each individual believer and every local assembly grows and matures by the Spirit into the image of Christ in mind and in word and in maturity.

"11And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers,

12to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,

13until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,"

(Eph. 4:11-13)

So success is loving God, loving each other, and growing up into the image and maturity of Christ! 

As for happiness, we must choose to rejoice in Jesus. No one can make you happy, you must choose it.