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Success

Body:

Championships. Titles. Records. PRs. Postseason honors. Medals. All equal success…Right?  There’s no success without something tangible to show for it on the stat sheet.

But what if that wasn’t true? What if success was actually defined by something entirely different?

Statistical success doesn’t even begin to touch the real, authentic, deeper-than-you-can-imagine success as outlined by God.

Think about the life of Jesus. By the standards of the world today, He would have been a total failure. He was homeless. He was surrounded by lowlifes. He was rejected by the elite. He was mocked, humiliated and crucified with criminals. How could that be success? Those around Him sure didn’t think it could. What they didn’t realize was that He’d won the biggest victory of ALL TIME by defeating death and paying the price for all man’s sins. It just didn’t look anything like success as they knew it. It was much deeper and more real than that.

As followers of Christ, we’re allowed to view things in a different way than those around us because we have an eternal perspective on life. We know that there are things at work that we can’t see and that God has a plan for everything. Part of that eternal perspective is knowing that true success is found not in visible victories but in obedience and faithfulness to God.

When we go through defeats, it becomes our right and responsibility to realize that they may not be defeats at all, but certain and total victories for the Kingdom of God and for you as His daughter.

Consider the moment when you are graceful after a loss on the court or field by complimenting your opponents on a great game even when you want to give them the cold shoulder. Or, when you get injured in the middle of a season and have to give up your dreams of competing for what you’ve dreamed about, yet continuing to cheer on your team and pressing in to God for comfort. Or, when you feel like you’re getting the shaft from your coach, yet you continue to work hard even though you’ll never get proper credit for it.

That is TRUE success. In God’s eyes, it has very little—if anything at all—to do with the scoreboard. It has everything to do with your heart and your obedience to Him. Remember 1 Samuel 16:7. “The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Questions:

1. Read Galatians 5:22-23, which outlines traits that the Holy Spirit empowers us to display. How can these fruits of the Spirit help us be successful in God’s eyes when we compete? Give an example for each characteristic.
2. Next time you experience what appears to be defeat on the field, court, track, etc., what is a way that you can display Christ to others? Maybe more importantly, how can you draw nearer to Him in the process (the ultimate success of all)?

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