THE WORD “SUCCESSFUL”

The word “successful” is such a popular word nowadays and very useful for literally every possible situation. We talk about successful men, successful women, successful students, parents or children. It seems all our minds are geared into generating “successful” outcomes and results. It is very obvious we do not like the word “failure”; we do not want to be proven as failures. This results in lots of seminars and books teaching people how to make themselves “successful”. 

WHAT IS A SUCCESSFUL MAN?

In order to know what a successful man is, we need to know the definition of a successful man. Who is a successful man? It’s been said that, “A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend, and that a successful woman is one who can find such a man.” The Webster Dictionary describes the word “success’ as “the favourable or prosperous termination of anything attempted, a termination which answers the purpose intended.” In other words, accomplishing what is wished or intended, having the desired effect, hence, in a good sense, prosperous, fortunate, happy. By and large, success depends on our goals. If someone doesn’t have a goal, there cannot be any concept of success in his life. This is because he does not have anything to achieve. Our assumptions and beliefs drive our behaviour. People promote self-belief, “What we can achieve, we achieve”. When we believe we are not good enough to achieve something, we don’t. This way, fear is the only thing that holds people back from achieving personal success. 

THE FIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF A SUCCESSFUL MAN

1) They have a dream, just like Joseph

2) They have a plan

3) They have specific knowledge or training

4) They are willing to work hard

5) They do not take “no” for an answer 

Everyone strives for success in one form or another. People need to achieve certain goals to make their lives worthwhile but everyone has different goals. 

NOT AN EASY QUESTION

It is not easy to answer what makes a man successful. We say a person is successful but what do we mean by it? Some people have lots of properties and some huge bank accounts, whilst others have lots of friends. Everyone of these people has been called successful. However, if all these things that give them pleasures have been acquired by endless labour or harsh dealings with their fellow men, are we still willing to call them successful? If you now start to have reservations about them, what made you change your view? Is it because it is more than just wealth and riches when it comes to measuring success? This question is answered differently according to our views of life. If your values are bound with the values of gold and silver, surely our Saviour Jesus is a failure, and His followers too. 

BIBLICAL UNDERSTANDING OF A SUCCESSFUL MAN

A successful man is a man of God (Psalm 112:1-10). Many will be unsatisfied with this answer and call it church terminology. We should be assured that this answer is not a result of Christian conviction alone. Psalm 112:1 says, “Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in his commandments.” The Bible defines man’s success by his relationship with God. Again, people will say that there is no wisdom in this, and that it is just a standard church saying. However, the reason that we must look into this particular verse to find our true success, is because it implies the true nature of man. When we call someone a successful man, we’re talking about his whole being. If a man is wealthy but miserable inside, then obviously, we cannot say that he is the model of a happy/successful man. We know of many supposedly successful people who’ve taken their own lives. These stories may seem unrelated but if we want to know how to become successful, we must first know who we are.  

A SUCCESSFUL MAN IS A MAN OF GOD

The reason why the Bible says a successful man is a man of God is because man is not merely a physical being. A man cannot be happy forever simply because he has all things in this world. The Lord shows us in Luke 12:20  “But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?” There is something beyond our physical side. This point is further explained in Ecclesiastes 3:11. “He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.” God has given us the world in our hearts. The Hebrew word for “the world” means “a very long duration of time, such as eternity”.  There is a longing for eternity in our hearts, and that’s why until that eternal longing is going to be satisfied, man cannot be fully and completely happy.  

MAN CONSISTS OF TWO ELEMENTS

The Bible tells us that man consists of two elements, material and immaterial — our body and soul. Therefore, a man cannot be eternally happy and blessed until he can satisfy both elements. However, as eternity is bigger than temporal, so the soul is bigger than the body. The problem is, our soul has been lost and cut off completely from the eternal God. Sinners are thrown out by the presence of their own sin and guilt, far away from God. Therefore man became eternally lost and unsuccessful. There could be glimpses of happiness here and there, but everyone of us must give up that last breath. Then there will be the fearful encounter — judgement.  

TRUE SUCCESS IS PROVEN IN ETERNITY

Whether you like the idea or not, we may be surrounded by our loved ones right now but one day we will be all alone. This should be a terrifying thought that we would have to stand before God, all alone. We can find a few stories in the Bible about encounters with God. Even the holy and righteous collapsed before the presence of God. What more, of sinners and the unrighteous? The blessed man is the man who possesses eternal life in his soul. Whatever and whoever we are, if we are not men of God, we are eternally doomed. How can we possibly be happy then? True success is proven in eternity. Remember verse 1, “Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in his commandments” — that is a successful man. 

MAN OF GOOD CHARACTER

Verses 4-5 say, “Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.  A good man sheweth favour, and lendeth: he will guide his affairs with discretion.” Hence a successful man is a righteous one, not someone who owns the most and enjoys the most, but one of good character. We would find this point to be most unique amongst unbelievers, as most people believe that intellectuals are the most successful people in the world. There are also those who blame conditions and circumstances for their unrighteousness. These things may contribute to some unrighteous characteristics but they cannot be the primary cause of one’s unrighteousness. Our unrighteousness lies within us; if sin comes from outside we can isolate ourselves, cut it off, but because darkness resides within us, how can we remove it? Jeremiah described how the “heart is deceitful amongst all things, and desperately wicked, who can know it?” It is so unclean and incurably sick, it just cannot be cured by efforts, good education or culture. Genuine and good character does not come from our sinful hearts, they need to be touched from above, washed by the blood of Jesus. Therefore, a successful man is one of good character, made and moulded by the Saviour’s hands. Success in the world is defined by outward achievements but success in the Lord is an effect of good character: grace, compassion, righteousness, and being just kind and charitable. There is no mention of intelligence. Biblical success is related to character. One may have all the riches and achievements in the world, but without good character, he is not such a success as he thinks he is. Jesus as a man was compassionate and gracious. Though we may be neither rich nor famous, we can find success by simply being gracious and compassionate. 

SELF-BELIEF

Verses 6-9 say, “Surely he shall not be moved for ever: the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance. He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord. His heart is established, he shall not be afraid, until he see his desire upon his enemies. He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor; his righteousness  endureth for ever; his horn shall be exalted with honour.”  Worldy wisdom says that success begins with a state of mind, you must believe to succeed. We are told to believe in ourselves, but can we believe in ourselves? Can we trust ourselves? It would be a terrible thing if God is anything like us! 

MAN OF STABILITY

Gen 49:4 says, “unstable as water, thou shalt not excel.” James 1:8 further proves this point by saying that “a double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” 2 Peter 2:1 warns about the dangers of false prophets and doctrines. If our trust in Jesus is not stable, we can be easily targeted by false teachers and false preachers. Some people misuse the scriptures as a result of their unstable minds. If our hearts are not fixed on all-important matters like doctrines, values and Christian living, we’ll waver all the time. Even churches are suffering because of wavering people. Fixed hearts are stable because they have clear goals and their goals are always related to their relationships with the Lord. 

STABILITY IN THE LORD

God stabilises everything. In Colossians 2:7 Paul says, “Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.” Are we fixed on God? God will help us when our eyes are fixed on Him. Verses 6-8 talk about our dependability. If we are not stable in the Lord, we’re not dependable. Dependability is our most important asset in the Lord. Are we fixed, established in the faith? Everybody strives to be successful; there are lots of people who are disappointed and in despair because they feel that they are not successful. So, how does the Bible view the successful man, from Psalm 112?

1) He is a man of God

2) He is a man of good character

3) He is a man of sound stability  

Thank God for Psalm 112. May He help mould our characters to be good and to be fixed on Christ!

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