How Do You Measure Success?

“Our greatest fear should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter.” — Francis Chan

What does success mean to you? Is it important? If so, how important? Everybody is looking for success. If you googled “how to find success” right now, a billion of more results would pop up in a matter of seconds. Thousands of books have been written on the topic and even more YouTube videos have been created; all of them promise some level of success if you follow their advice. But, what is success? And, how can we truly measure it? And what is success spiritually? 

The Bible is the place we go to find the answers to those questions, but nowhere in scripture does God offer an exact picture of what “success” looks like. No particular level of achievement. No salary goal. No success checklist for us to complete. The scriptures simply say to roll every aspect of our lives upon Him, to trust wholly in Him, and then our lives will be full. That is all there is to it, yet when looked at in its entirety, it seems like a big undertaking. But is it?  Or is it in the unseen, behind the scenes, everyday small steps of consistent obedience to Him?  Small, everyday steps of allowing His Spirit to work in our lives and change our hearts. And small, everyday steps of loving the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and loving our neighbor as ourselves.

Luke 9:25 (TPT) reminds us that “Even if you gained all the wealth and power of this world, everything it could offer you, yet lost your soul in the process, what good is that?”  

But don’t think that because you are taking small steps that you are limiting what God can do. You can’t limit God. Never give up on moving closer to God because it seems too large an undertaking and too difficult.  We serve a God who makes the impossible possible, who makes the improbable, probable. We know from scripture that nothing is impossible for Him. With God anything and everything is possible. But sometimes it all begins with the small things; like the small moments when I feel God’s presence. Or in the morning stillness and quiet of scripture reading and prayer or soaking in the beauty of a summer sky or choosing to extend forgiveness and grace in a raw moment when anger is threatening to boil to the surface.

And here’s the thing: all those transformative small steps of choosing to walk in tandem with the God of the universe next to me adds up to big success in my relationship with Jesus Christ.   

Discussion Questions:

1. How do you define success in your life? 
2. How do you need to re-prioritize your life so that getting to know God better is your number one priority?