Real Success

Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.

Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.  

Philippians 2:2-5

Success is what the world chases after but truly never finds.  Everyone wants their moment of fame and to be loved by all.  That is how the world views success.  Empty living is what I call it.  I heard John Maxwell once say “success is when those who know you best, love and respect you most.”  To me, that is real success.  Again, it comes back to perspective and what you see as being important. 

How you think determines what you become.  If you want to be rich, chances are you will become greedy in order to get there.  If you want to be powerful, chances are you will take down anyone you have to in order to accomplish your agenda to get that power.  Your thoughts lead to your actions and ultimately those actions will determine who you are.  It is about your attitude.  It is about your true character. It is a mind set. Those who think like Jesus thought typically live a life as He lived.  If we want to please God then we choose to walk like His son.  Pleasing God is not about self-promotion but instead self-abandonment.  It is understanding that our life is not our own when we have chosen to follow Christ.  It is realizing that “serving is not what I do but instead a servant is who I am.”  We cannot serve when we are focused on pursuing the world’s idea of success.

Everyone goes through some form of heartache and pain in life.  It serves a purpose.  It is an event that has happened so that the gospel can be enhanced.  These events happen so that our faith may grow and our joy increase as we experience the abundance of grace and joy that comes from living as Christ lived.  Joy should not be based on what happens to us but instead what God is doing in and through us.  That is when you will find the most joy and be most content.