My Spirit, My ResponsibilitySample

A Right Spirit and Success

God wants to bless you. When blessing comes, it doesn’t so much change you as it brings out what is already in you. When someone experiences success and suddenly they have money (which in and of itself is neither good or bad) it just shines on the character that they already have.

People measure success differently, but the thing is that success brings blessing and reveals what is in a person’s spirit; some people wear success well, while others don’t.
 
It is important to keep a right spirit in success. In Joshua 1:8, God spoke to Joshua and promised him success. He said, “For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” This is the same Joshua who said in chapter 24:15, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” In his success his commitment was “I am going to serve God.” “As for me and my house we will serve the Lord.” Not me without my house – in other words I am not going to go serving God at the cost of my family.

Good success, bad success. If someone can have “good success”, then there must also be bad success.  When someone takes short cuts or uses people for personal gain, that’s bad success and the Bible says it will not be blessed. Proverbs 28:20 says,

"A faithful man shall abound with blessings, but he who makes haste to be rich [at any cost] shall not go unpunished.(Amplified)"

 Although success can be gained by dishonest means, in the end, we reap what we sow. Bad success is also when you allow your success to change your character. Pride, arrogance and selfishness can seduce you into forgetting from where your success comes. 

My friend Rick Godwin recently said to me, “Brian, the one thing I like about you is that in all the success, you’ve never changed.” Of course, we need to be changing all the time in terms of personal growth and maturity, but when it comes to authenticity and staying accountable, we should never change.

To keep a right spirit in success:

- Always give God the glory. The moment we start thinking our success is deserved, we have a poor spirit in that success.

- Don’t become arrogant. 

- Be authentic. Continue to be who God called you to be and don’t forget from whence you came.

PRAYER: Thank you Lord for the success you have brought into my life. May I always recongnise that every good and perfect gift comes from you, and have a right spirit to always give you the honour and glory.