God’s “Key” to Success‏

Hello Friends!

Here are some thoughts on God's approach to "success" and how we can trust in Him with everything... always.  Enjoy!

God’s “Key” to Success

According to Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary, success is defined as “achieving a favorable or desired outcome.”

All organizations—for profit and not for profit—desire to achieve success.  The former generally define success in terms of financial profit and the latter define success in terms of social profit.

Regardless of our specific definition, to achieve biblical success requires people who are fulfilling the purpose of God for their lives.  These people are working in concert with God’s design and continually seek His will for their lives—even when it seems they are out of His will!

Many times organizational leaders recognize the efficacy of biblical living, but their understanding of it is nascent.  Specifically and most often, they fail to understand how to discern good character.  Leaders commonly judge character based on brief interactions with people and perhaps a few reference checks.  But this gives only a glimpse into a person’s true character.

To gain an accurate perspective of a person’s character requires much more careful analysis—something that, in my experience, few organizational leaders are willing to do.  This is one of the reasons that so many organizations make frequent hiring errors.  Unwittingly, organizational leaders hire people who are under curses, who lack divine favor, who don’t submit to authority, who are not teachable, who live in deep shame, who make excuses, who have a pattern of failure, who are void of divine help, who are not problem-solvers, who have marred judgment, etc.  The list of undesirable character traits is long.

The best way to discern good character is to become a serious student of the Bible.  The Bible reveals God’s standard of righteous (right) living.  One of the biblical concepts that encompasses God’s righteousness is the term “the fear of the Lord,” which is a concept that is widely used in Scripture and has many facets to it.  Those who seek to understand and live in the fear of the Lord display—among many traits—wisdom, knowledge, discernment, insight, understanding, and sound judgment.  And they often enjoy favor, blessings, guidance, honor and protection.  Clearly these traits are wonderful qualities that we want both in ourselves as well as in others with whom we associate.

To ignore the standard of biblical character in yourself and others is fatal.  Just as the fear of the Lord leads to all the wonderful things that you want in life, failing to live in the fear of the Lord leads to everything that you don’t want—confusion, poor judgment, ignorance, folly, poverty, failure, death, and so forth.  Leaders who fail to learn how to develop sound biblical character in both themselves and others will struggle with organizational success.  No organization can truly succeed unless its workers succeed.  And workers cannot succeed unless they develop godly character, that is, learn to live in the fear of the Lord.

In Conclusion:

We must learn how to live in the fear of the Lord and to recognize others who do as well.  With the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit, let's live boldly in the fear of the Lord.  Don't take this casually.  If we really want to achieve enduring success and excellence, we must be vigilant about learning to live in the fear of the Lord.  This will release wisdom, knowledge, divine guidance, protection, blessings, favor, and God's success in our lives.  The fear of the Lord is in the beginning of wisdom and knowledge and is therefore the foundational key to our success.

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”  Proverbs 9:10

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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