Success as found in the Bible

Success is an important driver to every one in business. It’s what gets you up in the morning, motivates you to solve problems, gain happy customers and build a winning team. You already know how the world sees success—company growth, market share, profitability and more—but how is success described in the Bible? And how does that apply to you today?

As a Christian business leader, the most important metric of your eventual success is not what the world sees, but what God thinks. Ultimately, we work to hear these words at the end of our days: “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

To help understand how God views success, let’s start by looking at the Bible. Finding what the Bible has to say will answer many questions around the topic of success, including:

• Does God want me to be successful?
• What does God’s plan for my success look like?
• Is business growth part of God’s plan for my success?
• How does financial success figure into God’s plan?
• How can I even know God’s plan for me in business?

You may have wondered about one or more of these questions yourself, or have others to add to the list.

Perhaps you are familiar with the prayer of Jabez, where he asks God for success, and God grants his request:

Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request. — 1 CHRONICLES 4:10

If only it were so simple! Just ask for business success, and POOF!—success is granted. But, it’s not always like that, even in the Bible, is it?

Think about some of the most successful people in the Bible. Who are they? There are so many men and women in the Bible specifically blessed by God, and in so many different ways. And, putting someone on this list depends on the definition of “success”, doesn’t it?

Even so, you might consider some of these on your list:

• Abraham—material blessings and God’s promise
• David—victory in battle
• Solomon—great wealth and wisdom
• Job—tremendous failure followed by double abundance
• Esther—acting with boldness for great results
• Mary—outstanding bravery and a willingness to serve
• Jesus—perfection in the greatest of all challenges
• Peter—overcoming weakness to lead

God’s plan for success was different for different people. The same is still true today!

The prayer of Jabez seems so simple—ask for success in the form of material blessings, and God grants it. But God’s plan for your success is likely not quite as simple as that, is it?.

Jabez asked for & received his success—what’s your “ask”?