God has put in the heart of every human being the desire to be successful in life. He has put that desire there, because it is God’s desire for you to be successful and prosper in life. The Bible says in NAS 3 John 1:2 Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.
What does the Bible mean when it says that God wants you to prosper and be successful? A lot of people equate prosperity and success with money or fame. Donald Trump is a billionaire, but is on his third marriage. Successful? I don’t think so. Billy Joel, the famous singer said, “The happiest times in my life were when my relationships were going well, but in my whole life, I haven’t met the person I can sustain a relationship with yet. So I’m discontented about that. I’m angry with myself. I have regrets.” Success in life is fulfilling God’s purposes in all areas of your life. NIV Proverbs 28:25 A greedy man stirs up dissension, but he who trusts in the LORD will prosper. True success in life comes only from God.
The Bible has a lot to say about how to be successful. In the NIV translation, the words “prosper”, “success” or “bless” and their variants are used in 495 verses. Your success in life is related to the success of your spiritual life, according to 3 John 1:2, quoted above. To be successful, you must first of all enter into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. See my article, for a simple, but profound description of this foundational step.
The second step, which unfortunately is being ignored by many people, is to become part of a faith family in a local church. You will never achieve success in life apart from this. In the Old Testament, to be put out of faith community for breaking God’s laws was a terrible penalty called “being cut off from his people” (Exodus 31:14). In the New Testament, to be put out of the church was just as tragic and was described as being “handed over to Satan” (1 Corinthians 5:5). Yet many today, consider themselves believers, yet do not become part of a church family. The Bible says NIV Hebrews 10:25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another.
Being part of a church family provides protection for you in every area of your life. When you are not part of a church family, your health, relationships, finances, spiritual life and every area of your life will suffer. You will not be fulfilling God’s purpose for your life. A scientific study has shown that those who attend church more than once a week live eight years longer than those who never attend church. A meta analysis of 42 different studies relating life expectancy to religious involvement showed a significant association with lower mortality. In other words, people who attend church are healthier and live longer lives than those who don’t.
Finally, to be successful in life, you must follow the principles in the Bible. NIV Joshua 1:8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Only God, through the power of the Holy Spirit can give you the wisdom and strength to follow God’s principles.
True success in life can only be achieved by those who have a growing relationship with God, who are part of a church family and are following biblical principles in every area of their lives. May your life be prosperous and successful as you live it for God.
Dear Paster Dan,
Thanks for your message How to be successful in life.
May God bless you and your deeds.
Pray for me and my spiritual growth and knowledge to understand the GOSPEL.
thanks,
Rajkumar , Kingdom of Bahrain
pray for me my wife committed adultry on me