What does it mean to be successful?
Across the globe, youth hold various views of what success is and how to achieve it.
For Anne, a Class 8 student, success means academic achievement and finishing at the top of her class. For Yusuf, success means graduating from high school and getting a college education. Omondi believes success is a steady job and stable income so that he can provide for his family.
Success can mean many things to different people. For some it is marrying the “right” person, having beautiful kids, acquiring wealth, or being popular. For others it means being recognized and appreciated for one’s talents, whether they be in music, arts, sports, or another field.
Young women often pursue success in relationships and the search for security, while young men often look for success through significance and recognition or approval from others.
If we’re honest with ourselves, we may hold one of these common views about success. Regardless of how we define it, youth spend much of their time, attention, energy, and effort pursuing success. And we can become very discouraged along the way or even lose hope if we think we’ve failed.
As students prepare for national exams, it is not uncommon to give “success cards” or to offer advice or prayers for success. But do the marks we receive on our national exams really define our value or the measure of our success? If so, the statistics show that most of us will be disappointed. In 2017, over 350,000 Kenyans scored a D or below. After twelve years of faithfully attending classes and completing assignments, does that mean they failed?
Understanding True Success
I believe that one of the biggest challenges we face is our misunderstanding of what success really is. Success becomes an idol in our lives that replaces our devotion to God. Striving for success turns friends into competitors and can make us prone to corruption, cheating, arrogance, or despair.
In the Bible, success is not about achieving things. Rather, biblical success is about faithfulness to God.
When King David was about to die, he shared these words about success with his son, Solomon:
“Do what the LORD your God commands and follow his teachings. Obey everything written in the Law of Moses. Then you will be a success, no matter what you do or where you go” (1 Kings 2:3).
Notice that David didn’t tell his son to focus on acquiring wealth, building up his kingdom, or beating his enemies. David told his son to focus on God and being faithful to His Word.
Consider Jesus. If we measure him by the world’s standard of success, his life was pretty unimpressive. Born from a humble background and under shameful circumstances, Jesus never had a formal education. He never married and never had kids or acquired worldly wealth. While he was recognized by many as a teacher, healer and even Messiah, in the end most people were disappointed that he didn’t establish a new political kingdom and improve their economic situation. Before Jesus’ death even his followers and friends abandoned him and he died a painful death as a criminal.
David’s instructions and Jesus’ life show us that success may look very different in God’s eyes.
Jesus teaches us that success is about seeking first God’s kingdom while allowing God to provide for the rest (Matthew 6:33). The good news of the gospel is that we are already accepted in God’s eyes and that He loves and receives us as His children through Christ. We do not need to achieve God’s favour, He freely grants it.
Success then is walking with God and experiencing the joy of his presence and favour in your life. In each situation, you can confidently give your best efforts and trust the results to Him, knowing that “I can do all things through him who gives me strength” (Phil. 4:3). Give precedence to the relationships rather than the result and God’s provision and blessing will follow your faithful efforts.
So, may the year ahead be wildly successful for you!
“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” – Jeremiah 17:7-8
