When the world measures success we as Christians often don’t measure up to its standards. To the world success is measured by how much money to you possess, how many educational degrees have you obtained, how famous are you, and how many material possessions do you own. Sadly, many Christians also measure success in terms of numbers. For example, if you are a pastor success is often measured by how many people do you have in your congregation. Or if you are a layman, how many people have you brought to the Lord.
But in the economy of God, I believe, success is not measured in terms of numbers but in terms of faithfulness. I like what Pastor Tony Evans shared when he said: “Success is not what you have done compared to what others have done. Success is what you have done compared to what you were supposed to do.”1
In (Matthew 25) we read the story of the Parable of the Talents. If you remember the master gave each of his servants a certain amount of talents. To one he gave five talents, to a second, two talents, and to a third servant one talent. The first two servants were faithful in investing and returned twice as many talents as they were originally given to their master. Both of these servants were praised for their faithfulness and received the same commendation: “His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’” (Matthew 25:21).
Notice the emphasis in this parable is being faithful in what the Lord has given you. And the thing that excites me is that for the two servants that were faithful they received the joy of knowing that they would be richly rewarded. And their reward was based on faithfulness, not results. And another thing that brings joy to my heart is that no matter what your station in life, or how rich or poor you are, you can be successful in life by being faithful to the Lord.
While the world measures success by results, God uses the standard of faithfulness and examines a person’s heart and motives in deciding the level of blessing He will bestow upon them. And to God, always remember, success and faithfulness are really two sides of the same coin.
1 TOP 25 QUOTES BY TONY EVANS (of 93) | A-Z Quotes (azquotes.com)