The Monster of Success

Oh, how I prospered! I left all my predecessors in Jerusalem far behind, left them behind in the dust. What’s more, I kept a clear head through it all. Everything I wanted I took—I never said no to myself. I gave in to every impulse, held back nothing. I sucked the marrow of pleasure out of every task—my reward to myself for a hard day’s work! Then I took a good look at everything I’d done, looked at all the sweat and hard work. But when I looked, I saw nothing but smoke. Smoke and spitting into the wind. There was nothing to any of it. Nothing. (Ecclesiastes 2:9-11, MSG)

Let me confess that I have been wrestling the monster of success. I got caught up in what doesn’t matter. I let this website, the books, and newsletters define who I am. I was asked questions from several people that sounded like this, “How many readers do you have?”, “How many books have you sold?”, “How many blog followers do you have?”, and a few others.

These questions in and of themselves are not bad. Even success isn’t bad. It’s allowing the thoughts of success to overcome the true vision. My vision is to reach the lost. I have a heart to see people discipled and following Jesus with everything they’ve got. The temporary satisfaction of success on this earth and all that it entails is fading at best. Nothing we gain here will come to heaven with us. The home, car, and all the stuff gets left behind. The only thing we take to Heaven is the difference we have made on this earth.

I don’t want to live my life for temporal success. I don’t want to gain an audience to see how big I can become. I want to place the spotlight on Jesus. I could gain a million followers and that would not be true success. True success is one life changed. One marriage saved. One child loved better. One person saved from the thoughts of suicide. One person overcoming the mental battles they face. One person finding out what victory looks like in Jesus. One man or woman digging into God’s Word better and learning what it means to be victorious in Jesus!

Please pray for me. Please pray that this website, every book, every devotional, and my newsletter will only be used to advance God’s glory. Please pray that God will give me clarity of vision moving forward and that I will follow His heartbeat for this ministry.

I encourage you to define what true success looks like in your life. If you feel caught up in chasing the monster of success, please take a step back and reflect on what God says true success is. Solomon shared some very powerful words at the end of his life (Read Ecclesiastes 1-2). He knew what financial success looked like. He had everything! But even he declares that it was all for nothing. Nothing! Can you imagine getting to the end of your life and looking back and seeing nothing? Everything up in smoke! Oh, that grieves my heart to even think about. This life is short and every day we have an opportunity to make the most of Jesus through it. Let’s live to glorify the King! Let’s make an eternal difference in this world. It’s time to let God define what true success looks like in our business, family, ministries, and friendships.

Lord, I’m so sorry for getting caught up in the monster of success. Please help me to daily evaluate what true success looks like and to place my time and my efforts into the things that advance eternity. Lord, I pray that my life will be used on this earth to make an eternal difference for your Kingdom!

Defining True Success,