Series: Honoring the 2023 Graduates

Sermon Title: How to be Successful God’s Way

What is success?

According to a secular dictionary they would define success as:

a.     the favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors; the accomplishment of one's goals.

b.     the attainment of wealth, position, honors, or the like.

But does attaining more things equal to success? Why then have so many millionaires committed suicide?

Cheslie Kryst - Actress, Miss USA 2019; was a correspondent for the TV entertainment show "Extra!" for which she received two Emmy Award nominations.

Died January 30, 2022, age 30, by jumping from the 29th floor of an apartment building. After her death her mother stated that she had suffered from "high-functioning depression"

Ernest Hemingway Writer who won the Pulitzer Prize (1953) and the Nobel Prize in Literature (1954) for his novel. Died July 2, 1961, age 61, of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head

Robin Williams Was an Oscar winner and 4-time Oscar nominee. He battled alcohol and drug addiction as well as clinical depression for much of his life. Had Lewy body dementia at the time of his death.  Died August 11, 2014, age 63, by hanging himself

Phillip Matthew Adams (July 20, 1988 – April 8, 2021) was an American football cornerback. He played college football for the New England Patriots, Oakland Raiders, Seattle Seahawks, New York Jets, and Atlanta Falcons.

On April 8, 2021 Adams shot and killed himself following a standoff with police in Rock Hill, South Carolina. He was identified by investigators as the gunman responsible for killing six people the day before.

K-pop star Moon Bin, known by the stagename Moonbin, has died aged 25, found unresponsive in his apartment and the suspect it was suicide.

The list of rich and famous people who have committed suicide is surprisingly long.  All these individuals were considered highly successful by the world’s standard.  They had money, they had fame, they had it all but were still empty on the inside.  There was still something missing. 

If money and fame does not make you successful, then what does it mean to be successful?

A more biblical definition- Success is being obedient to God, being empowered by the Spirit of God, being motivated by the love of God for the advancement of His kingdom.  Hearing the words “well done…”

Real success is following Him in all areas of life and is often quite opposite from how this world tells you to gain success.  When we live by the word of God then we will be successful.  The bible is full of instructions and promises.  If it is in the Bible we can trust it as truth for our lives. 

Proverbs 19:20-21

²⁰ Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future.
²¹ Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.. 

Be Successful in Education –

Proverbs 1:7

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Ecclesiastes 7:12

For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.

2 Timothy 2:15

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

There is nothing wrong with learning more, the bible even encourages you to learn more.  However, you must be cautious to what you allow in heart.  

Colossians 2:8

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.

Get the education, learn more, remain teachable, don’t ever get to a point which you think you know it all, continue to grow in every area. But don’t make education a god. Don’t worship education nor exalt it above the knowledge of God. Don’t be prideful about your education.  Abandon material that contradicts the bible.

Be Successful with Money (You may be familiar with the following verse regarding money)

1 Timothy 6:10

¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

Money itself is not evil, but the love of money is certainly evil.  Money is simply a tool.  It can be used for good or it could be used for evil. 

We need money to buy food, pay our electric bills, get our hair done etc…

But the love of money produces a craving that can never be satisfied.  You will always want more. 

But if we keep reading in the same passage, we will find some additional instruction when it comes to money. 

1 Timothy 6:17

¹⁷ As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. 

Notice He does not charge the rich to not be rich but to not be Haughty (prideful or arrogant).  Communitiesneed those who are rich.  Without the rich there would be no businesses nor would there be jobs for those who are not rich. 

But rather the rich are to set their hopes on God who richly provides. The difference is a heart issue.  Money should not be their God; God should be their God. 

¹⁸ They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, ¹⁹ thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

God made them rich to be generous. But what about those of us who are not rich how are we to deal with money.

            Luke 6:38

Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

Everyone’s measure is different from the next person’s measure.  Everyone’s income is different than the next person.  But each is to give according to their measure.

2 Corinthians 9:7

Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Proverbs 3:9 Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the first fruits of all your produce;

We are to honor the Lord with our giving.  God is not looking to see who can give the most, but who will give out of obedience.

I have seen firsthand how God has provided for our every need as we have given to Him first.

 

Be Successful in the Workplace

         Colossians 3:23-24

²³ Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,²⁴ knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.

         Whatever you do…

·       If it is stocking the shelves at the Dollar General

·       If it is picking up poop behind horses

·       Even if you are a sanitation engineer (aka trash collector)

Then do it heartily unto the Lord. With all sincerity, with all your might, with all your effort, with your best creativity, with your best attitude.  Do it as though you are doing it to the Lord.

This is extremely important when you have a overdemanding boss.  Do it unto the Lord and not unto that person.  The Lord knows all, the Lord sees all, and He will reward you accordingly.

Work hard and diligently unto the Lord. Show up to work on time & Show Out.

         Proverbs 10:4 A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.

         Proverbs 14:23 In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.

         2 Thessalonians 3:10-12

¹⁰ For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. ¹¹ For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. ¹² Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living

         Proverbs 16:3 Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.

Be Successful in Your Relationships (Summarized in one word “Love”)

         1 Corinthians 13:1-7

¹ If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ² And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ³ If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

⁴ Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant⁵ or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; ⁶ it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

The way to have successful relationships is to walk in the love of God.  Not the kind of love that this worldtells you.  That I’ll love you and treat you nice if you do the same to me.  No, we are talking about having the love of Christ Jesus in our hearts. His love was selfless and unconditional.  Meaning if you never do anything for me, I will walk in love toward you.

·       Walking in love requires you to hold your tongue at times.

·       Walking in love requires you to do kind things even sacrificially.

·       Walking in love requires you to be patient with the other person.

·       Walking in love is only possible when we consider the love that Christ has given us.

Be Successful in Godliness

We all want to hear those words:

Matthew 25:21“Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.”        

We know that salvation is completely the work of Christ, yet we see that our faithfulness will be rewarded. This includes our faithfulness to living righteously and/or having the fruits of the spirit evident in our lives.

Galatians 5:16 & 22-26

¹⁶ But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. ²⁴ And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵ If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

Being successful in Godliness is allowing His character to become ours.

Let us run our race so that we can say as Paul did to Timothy:

         2 Timothy 4:7-8

 ⁷ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. ⁸ Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.

A Final Blessing

Psalm 20:4 May he grant you your heart's desire and fulfill all your plans!

Psalms 37:4 Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.