How do I define success? That is a hard question. One definition of success, according to dictionary.com, is the attainment of wealth, position, honors, or the like. To me, success is so much more than that. Success is more than monetary gain or power. Success for me is based on what my God says success in life is. Everything I need to know about success in this life is found in God’s Word. I spent my first year after high school at the Great Commission Bible Institute. I am not an expert or scholar, but I do know the importance of living for my Savior. Success to me is the same as the Biblical definition of peace. Peace literally means the ability to lay your head on your pillow at night knowing that all is as it should be. That is success; to lay my head on my pillow and know that I have done everything that day to please my Lord.
Success doesn’t have to be a long term goal. A person can have success in their everyday life. For a mother, she can succeed by nurturing her children and protecting them from any outside influence that shouldn’t be permitted in her children’s lives. For a college student like me, success can be doing my best in school, paying attention to the people in authority in my life, and by keeping my heart and mind pure throughout my day. For a pastor, success can be shepherding the members of the church and taking his responsibilities seriously. Everyone has the opportunity to succeed. Success is very much about our choices.
Success can be determined somewhat by the choices we make. Little decisions we make can have a long term effect on our lives. By making the hard choices now, in the long run we can actually create “a pattern for success.” When we make right choices now, we can continue making good choices in the future. Success is more attainable when we make choices that will have a positive effect on our lives and also the way we define success.
As I said earlier, success to me is about the same as the Biblical definition as peace. In order to achieve this peace it is important for me to start the day by acknowledging my life is not about me. My life should be all about pointing other people to my Lord. When I do something kind or right, it should be to show people Who I live for. I don’t think that success is just a feeling or an award or job that you get. Success can be about an outside acknowledgement, but I think that success is so much more about meeting a personal goal or living out a belief or value.
As I also said in my introduction, success to me is pleasing my God. I have a personal Savior who gave His life for mine. He sacrificed Himself in order to have a relationship with me. So, when I choose to live my life for Him I am choosing to see life as He says it is. When I do this, I see success as what He wants my life to be.
I don’t want it to seem like I don’t have goals or that success is a vague feeling. I do have specific things in my life that I want to achieve. I want to go to college and finish my education responsibly and well. I want to be a teacher and I know that this is a desire that the Lord has placed in my life. I want to get married, have kids, and become the type of successful mother that I described earlier. All of these desires and goals are just one of the ways that I can define success in my life. I know that not all of this may be possible and some of my longings may change, but I know that as long as I am following God’s will for my life, I will succeed overall.
Success isn’t easy. Success takes work and a lot of deliberate action. It may take years for me to achieve and to perfect, but I know that by making good, responsible choices now and always remembering that my life is not meant to be lived for myself, I can make a difference. Success is possible.
