"Who Is A Success?"
Who is a success? That depends on how you define it, of course. If having money and power is your definition of success, then obviously, the more money and power you have, the more successful you are. The person who is successful is therefore the one who has accumulated a degree of wealth and is able to exercise an impressive amount of power.
Yet, even then, you have to include the time factor. One person can be very successful for several years. Are they a success? That depends. How many years of financial gain do you have before you are a success? Are you evaluating that in terms of a person’s working life, senior life, or retirement years?
Let me give you just one example of why the money and power definition of success is inadequate and how quickly that kind of success can vanish. In 1923, do you know who was…
1. President of the largest steel company?
2. President of the largest gas company?
3. President of the New York Stock Exchange?
4. Greatest wheat speculator?
5. President of the Bank Intl. Settlement?
6. The Great Bear of Wall Street?
These men should have been considered some of the world’s most successful. They found the secret to making bundles of money. Almost 80 years later, do we know what actually became of these men? Here are the answers:
1. The president of the largest steel company, Charles Schwab, died a pauper.
2. The president of the largest gas company, Edward Hopson, went insane.
3. The president of the NYSE, Richard Whitney, was released from prison to die at home.
4. The greatest wheat speculator, Arthur Cooger, died aboard, penniless.
5. The president of the Bank of International Settlement shot himself.
6. The Great Bear of Wall Street, Cosabee Livermore, committed suicide.
Success, to be real success, must last longer that a just few years. It has to include more than money, prestige, and power, since those things are transitory. What then is success? Success is striving to reach your potential in Jesus Christ. It’s being all you are meant to be in him. The Apostle said it like this: “I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven” (NLT).
My definition of success doesn’t exclude money, power, and prestige. In and of themselves, they are not bad things. It’s just that they are not the main things. Our focus should be on a success that lasts a long, long time. I know of no better or other person who can guarantee that than Jesus Christ.
So, what can you do to get started on your road to success?
First, like Paul said, focus on one thing. That one thing is your purpose for life. God placed you here for a reason. He wants to enjoy you forever. He wants you to love him and know him better and better. Within that, you find and enjoy God’s good plans for you. He will guide and direct you as you find meaning and purpose in your life. Focus on one thing: loving and knowing God. He will reveal the details as you stay close to him.
Second, refuse to let the past dictate your present and future. If we keep looking to the past failures and successes, we cannot look to all the possibilities for the future. Our success has a tendency to give us a “big head” and our failures a saddened heart. Neither is what we need for long-term success!
Third, strive to be your best. Paul wasn’t in competition with anyone else. He was straining to be the best he could be. In our race for life, the measure of success isn’t how well we do in regard to others, it’s how we run the race God has given us.
We have a great challenge to focus, run and strive to be our best. The materials you will find on DavidBWhitlock.com are designed to help you reach that kind of success. What’s more, I believe, really believe, that you can make it! I believe it because I believe God designed you for success and not failure. So, find God’s good plans of success for you and enjoy it!