FAITHFULNESS VS. SUCCESS
"The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’ ”
Matthew 25:21 (NLT)
The world is interested in success, but God is interested in faithfulness. One of the things I’ve asked myself is why so many pastors and Christian leaders seem to be falling. I’ve asked this not in a judgmental way but rather to gain wisdom to prevent myself from falling. I realized when reflecting that we assume that the moment someone experiences success, they’re faithful, but this isn’t the case. Many successful people aren’t faithful to God, and many faithful people are unsuccessful, at least by the world’s standards.
Over the years, I’ve focused my energy on being faithful, which matters most to God. Jesus is more worried about the quality of your life than the quantity. If this seems hard to believe, in Matthew 25, Jesus says the same thing to the man with five talents as He does to the one with two. Both were told, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” Jesus doesn’t add to the five talent person, Oh, and by the way, you’re the employee of the month. He says the same thing. This is amazingly freeing when you see it. God wants you to be faithful to the opportunities He’s placed before you.
God’s operating system is different from the rest of the world. As John Ortberg said, God cares far more about who you become than what you get done! Success is when we try to earn something we don’t have, while faithfulness is living out what we already have. As Christians, we need to stop comparing our success to others and start living faithfully as a son or daughter of God. This is incredibly freeing. We’re called to remember who we are. We’re heirs to the kingdom of God, sons or daughters of God, joining God in the renewal of things. We help bring His kingdom to this earth. We’re ambassadors for the most important person in the entire universe. We’ve been entrusted with gifts and talents to help wake the world up to Jesus. That’s our identity. Our call is to live faithfully to God, and God rewards faithfulness. For those who are faithful, He rewards them with more of Himself. God will give us more of His love, more of His patience, more purpose, more passion, more joy, more boldness and more power. What we need to turn this world upside down isn’t more successful people. What we need is more faithful people.
APPLICATION: Today, remember that God is more interested in who you become than what you get done.
PRAYER: Spend time asking God if you’re living faithfully from your identity as a son or daughter of God. Ask Him to show you if you compare yourself to others’ success. Thank Him for your position as a child of God.