Word of the Week is "Success" (Post #23)

Success is essentially the fulfillment of a purpose or objective. In other words, if a thing does what it ought to do, then the thing is deemed successful.  Therefore, if our chase for success is wrong, then our pursuit for purpose will be also. ​

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So, the Wednesday Word for the Week is SUCCESS!

Mark 10:45. There the Bible says, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”(NIV)

Fact:  we live in a world that is fascinated with productivity and success. In an honest admission, I must own that I am one of those people who are highly impressed by achievers with great accomplishments. I love to see award winners, record breakers, innovators, and inventors utilize their God-given gifts to do extraordinary things.

Naturally, watching success can lead to a pseudo-synergy. In other words, there are a great number of people (can’t lie, I’m in this group too) who witness successful acts and desire to be better.  This desire provokes them (us) to reach higher and dig deeper.  Reach and dig for what you ask?  Success of course, right?

Still, this desire can turn into a heightened level of frustration when the anticipated goal, target, or longing is unmet.   That means, the thing that motivates, can lead to the thing that decimates.  Noting this reality, and the challenges associated with it, I felt the need to ask myself a few questions:

• “How do we successfully overcome this “success” struggle?”
• “Why is the pursuit for success so powerful?”
• “Do we honestly have the correct understanding of what success is?”

The answers to these questions are profound because they expose some of our greatest struggles: things like discouragement, dismay, and depression.  As I began to meditate on the last question, I began to see success in a different light.  I felt led to one reason in particular for our low spirits when we aren’t achieving as we perceive we ought to.

The answer you ask? Well, it’s because… that’s not how we ought to.

Stay with me on this.

Success is essentially the fulfillment of a purpose or objective. In other words, if a thing does what it ought to do, then the thing is deemed successful.  Therefore, if our chase for success is wrong, then our pursuit for purpose will be also.  And if that is wrong, we will inevitably remain frustrated, because we’re trying to pursuit a thing that was never intended to satisfy our God-given objective.

Think on your automobile for example. I mean, great that your car has surround sound; however, what does that matter if the engine doesn’t work. After all, it’s not a concert hall, it’s a vehicle; and the objective of the vehicle is transportation. Therefore, if it meets this requirement, sounds or not, it must be deemed successful.

So, to deal with the frustration of success, I feel like we ought to change the question were asking.  The question should be:  how can I begin to become aligned with God on my purpose?

Well, consider Mark 10:45. There the Bible says, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”(NIV)

Here’s a thought: maybe the reason why we feel “less than,” when we assume we haven’t done all that we “feel” we should have done, by the time we feel it should be done (whew!), is because our list of accomplishments almost all start and (tragically) end with SELF.

I mean we say, I want to lose weight. I want to get in shape. I want to write a book. I want to expand my business. I want to this, I want to that… I think you get the picture. When is the last time you heard someone’s ultimate goals married to others greater than themselves?

Factually, there are people who think this way.  I’m not only grateful to know them, but I’m also growing daily into one of them myself.  This is important because, if we never understand what our purpose is all about, we will never enjoy the power, benevolence, and selflessness of God-ordained success.

Why?  Because success isn’t about me, it’s about us.

So, what did you think? Did I miss anything? Do you agree or disagree? What would you add? Leave a comment below and subscribe to the blog.

Imperfectly,

Kevin D. Jones, Sr.
@kevindjonessr
@imperfection360