Success 2

Today I'm reading Matthew 6:24-30. “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?”

Success is a slippery thing because each person measures it in his or her own way. What feels like success to one person can mean almost nothing to another. One person might measure their success by the kind of car they drive while another person could care less about cars. That person might value friendships or the kind of work they do far more than the financial rewards. Teachers don’t teach to make a lot of money. Their sense of self-worth and satisfaction in life come in other ways. ‘Success’ is an internal measurement that is different for every person.

Studies have shown that the old adage that money does not buy happiness is absolutely true. Once a person reaches a basic level of security having more than that doesn’t really add to one’s sense of happiness. You just get more toys, more stuff, more distractions (and sometimes more headaches).

Success as a ‘feeling’ brings with it some specific qualities. A person who ‘feels’ successful generally feels like they have something to look forward to in life; that their world is getting bigger rather than shrinking; that they have options and choices; that they have some control over their lives and their future; that they can make good decisions; that they have strong emotional ties. The person who feels like a failure has the opposite. They think their world is getting smaller; they see few options, if any; they feel trapped - that they have no control over their circumstances like they are just a soccer ball that the rest of the world kicks around; that they don’t make good decisions; and they have weak emotional ties to others.

Success can’t be measured by outward things. Only by the content of the heart, and that’s why Jesus’ words are so powerful. We can only find true success within a peaceful heart that is free from the false promises of the world. What yardstick are you using to measure your sense of success in life???

Jeff

I like these words attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson. Not a prayer – but still worth praying over.

“To laugh often and love much; to win the respect of intelligent persons and the affection of children; to earn the approbation of honest citizens and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to give of one’s self; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived—this is to have succeeded.”