The Key to Accomplishment & Advancement

Hello Friends! 

Have you ever marveled at today’s world? Consider some of the wonderful characteristics of modern civilization, such as, human worth, equality between men and women, compassion and charity, efficacious health care, empirical scientific knowledge, universal education, and dignity of work to name a few...

The Key to Advancement

You might ask, what is so special about these things? Well, if you lived in the days of the Roman Empire some two thousand years ago, the above qualities would have been very special. The Roman Empire that dominated the world during Christ’s time displayed very different cultural traits. For example, human life was not valued; human beings had no intrinsic value other than to serve the purpose of the state. The culture was a male chauvinistic system in which women had no rights. There was no expression of compassion and charity, no organizations to help in times of dire need. Health care practices were based on superstition and therefore ineffective; furthermore, there were no hospitals or medical clinics. Empirical scientific knowledge was nonexistent because empirical research was not valued and therefore not practiced. Education was limited to males from wealthy families; there were no educational institutions. Work was disdained; it was below the dignity of Roman citizens and relegated to slaves.

Now do you feel blessed?  Are you thankful?

But this begs another question - how did the transformation happen? How did civilization move from the oppression of the Roman culture to the blessings that we enjoy today? 

Charles Murray sought the answer to this question and reported his findings in his book  Human Accomplishment. Murray researched three thousand years of human history seeking to uncover the factors that facilitate human accomplishment. He discovered three key factors needed by any culture:

1. Belief in a personal destiny
2. Belief in personal responsibility to fulfill one’s destiny
3. A culture that supports personal destiny.

His initial assumption was that human accomplishment would be evenly distributed among all worldviews, but he was wrong. According to Murray, a self-professed agnostic, these three factors occur almost exclusively in cultures that embrace a biblical worldview.

Murray’s conclusion is not surprising. In fact, he could have saved himself considerable time and money by simply looking at Scripture, which reveals the reality that alignment with God facilitates blessings and rebellion against God leads to judgment (see the above scripture reference). Human advancement is a great blessing, but it only comes through obedience to God, that is, individuals fulfilling their destinies in accordance with a biblical worldview. 

Therefore, the transformation of the civilized world from a repressive Roman culture to today’s prosperous culture happened through the labors of men and women fulfilling their divinely ordained destiny in the context of a biblical worldview. 

In closing:

The key to human accomplishment and advancement is submission to the will and ways of God. Therefore to build healthy, growing lives, we must associate with those who are doing what he or she is called to do in accordance with a biblical worldview.  We should also create a supportive environment that enables each of us to reach our full potential. To do this, we must make the Bible the handbook of our personal philosophy, values, principles, and practices. Everything in our lives must be grounded in the Bible - the Word of God.

For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. Psalms 1:6

If you have been blessed by this message or have a specific question, prayer request or testimony, please send me a note to: encouragingconcepts@live.com  

I love hearing from you.  Keep reading Encouraging Concepts!

Blessings!
Shane K. Morin <><

 

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