Success VS Blessing
I’ve had some pretty amazing things happening in my life recently. Some of them are things I’ve prayed for and dreamed of for years, while others have been completely unexpected or even desired.
A major prayer in my life recently has simply been…
God help me to understand the difference between success & blessing.
I think some would argue that all success is a blessing from God. But I’m not so sure about that.
I would love to get your input.
Oh there’s definitely a difference; success CAN be a blessing if we handle it the right way.
Success can also make us drift away from God, for instance, money or health can easily make us feel like we don’t need Him as much anymore. And then it’s definitely not a blessing anymore.
Being sick is not seen as success, but if it gets me closer to God than health, I see my illness as a blessing.
I want this to be my definition of succes: Ps. 147:11 -The Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love-
First I think we have to define success. That can mean a lot of different things to a lot of people.
But if success is defined by money, position, status, title, # of admirers, etc….then I think it is “success” if that is what we are measuring. It is “blessing” when we are making a positive and beautiful impact on the kingdom of heaven, for God’s glory.
we can really screw up a great blessing…which can make it seem like it wasn’t a blessing at all.
bottom line for me is….if you have Christ in your heart and you are serving other for His glory…then we are blessed…regardless of the worldly ideals that have been set as standards. if you have worldly riches, status, power, influence, etc but do not have Christ and LOVE…then success is nothing more details.
Well said Melissa.
There is a difference, but it is difficult to see. Defining the two is a good start…what does God say about success? blessing? What do I think is success?
But for me I began to understand blessings when I started to count them, literally. Making a list of gratitude. When living a life focused on gratitude it becomes easier to see the difference between blessing and success.
At least that’s what I’ve found to be true for me.
I’m glad it’s difficult for someone else to see as well.
success is accomplishing a goal or reaching an objective.
blessing is the ability to experience joy whether you succeed or fail, and the capacity to learn something along the way.
Hey Pete. We talk about this all the time at Going Beyond Ministries. There are so many GREAT opportunities for Priscilla to speak all around the world.. opportunities that an average person would probably call “successful” ones. But that doesn’t mean that it’s what God wants. You know? Where God is not leading, we don’t want to go. Because those “successful” opportunities could very well not be where God wants to bless us. Make sense?
Love this post!
Totally makes sense to me. That’s exactly what I’m struggling with.
Great question. Seems “success” is of the worldly perspective and self based while a “blessing” is on spiritual realm and provided by God or another outside source. Success seems to suggest some finality to it while blessings are continual. I have had success with some events or mileposts in my life that I thought God may or may not have been a part of. But I can only be blessed by another. Will have to think about this…thanks
I think they are different. I see it like this…success is always a blessing, while a blessing is not always success. Assuming God is with you all the time and that He is in total control than how can your success not be a blessing? It reminds me of that song lyric, “He gives and takes away…”
What?
Just kidding. That makes a lot of sense.
Well, first of all, you’ve given me a headache I’ve been thinking about this so much, but I do think there is a difference.
I think that success can be a blessing, depending on how you got it & how you use it (suggesting God honoring ways both places there by the way). And, honestly, I think God is longing to bless us.
When Jesus tells us to ask & we will receive, he is not suggesting that we ask for ridiculous amounts of money or the hottest wife on the block. He is talking about asking with intentions that honor God & a heart that mirrors his own.
To end this far too long of a comment, I far too many people confuse the 2 very often, myself included.
Hey Pastor Pete…
I often read and rarely comment on your blog, but I feel like this question is hitting me in the face and I have to open up and explore.
I believe that success needs to be defined, or measured, by our spiritual progress in the midst of any circumstances. I think this is why Paul talks about being content in all circumstances in Philippians because he recognizes that His success in life is defined by His relationship with Christ, regardless of his external circumstances…whether he has much or nothing, or whether he is in prison or free. I believe that as Chrisians, ultimately, that needs to be our focus and how we define success. That being said, the fact that we, who were dead in our transgressions, have been graciously regenerated by the Spirit of God and been given life is completely a blessing! And so, our ability to succeed is directly related to God blessing us with His Spirit’s indwelling…
Another thought, “every good and perfect gift comes from above.” (I know, that’s out of context, but the principle still holds true). I believe that any success we have in an earthly endeavor can be utter failure if we don’t allow the Spirit to work in our lives, after-all “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” We need to recognize that our success is not measured by the world’s standards, but by the work of the Holy Spirit in bringing us to a place of greater intimacy with our Creator. And “success” in any form is a blessing from above and needs to be received with complete gratitude and recognition that it is all from Him.
Sorry I wrote a book in response to this question, but thanks for providing a springboard for contemplation, both through your preaching and your writing. You are a blessing to me more than you can possibly know!! Praying for you, brother!
In Christ,
Matt
Perfectly summed up. This is exactly how I would have responded. Adrienne
I think there is a difference but I’m not sure how to put my finger on it.
Sometimes failure can be a big blessing since other opportunities come out of that. But does that lead to success?
“The basic difference between an ordinary man and a warrior is that a warrior takes everything as a challenge, while an ordinary man takes everything as either a blessing or a curse.” – Don Juan
I suppose I’m in the warrior category. I recognize what God has done for me and I don’t feel like God is punishing me when things aren’t the way I would like them to be. I think as long as we don’t look to the world to define our own personal success, we’re on the right track. There will always be those who have less–money, love, friendships, experiences, etc.–and those who will have more. I want to want what God wants for me, whatever that might be.
Success can be a blessing, as long as it is handled prayerfully and unselfishly. Holding onto any success open-handed so that God can do with it what He wants is what makes it a blessing.
Proverbs 30:7-9 is a huge challenge to live out.
YES, but mainly from our culture’s definitions. Sort of like the way we throw around the word “love” when 2000 years ago there was 3-4 different forms of love.
For me, when I think of success, I own it just a little too much and that’s dangerous. A blessing is from God! I believe if I can find a way to make these words synonymous of each other, it will help me remember who is really in control.
Some of the largest blessings in my life were not, by MY definition, success. But by God’s definition, they most certainly were. I think the only time you are going to find a difference in success and blessings is when you take God out of the picture. He’s got a successful plan worked out for all of us, and provides blessings and encouragement along the way in many forms.
I view the success I prayed for but never got as a blessing.
I trust that God knew I’d probably end up on the cover of The Enquirer.
I did a word search for success in the NASB version of the bible and what I found was interesting.
The NASB only has 7 instances where success has been used to translate a Hebrew word. Blueletterbible.org did not give any instances in NASB for Greek words translated to success.
Anyway.. there were several different Hebrew words that were translated to success. As I read through their meanings the general thought was something that prospers.
Using that as a starting point we should make a distinction between to prosper and our idea of prosperous. We generally think of the wealthy as prosperous never taking into account that some of the very wealthy are not very healthy. Stress and other problems that ill-managed wealth can bring cause a very unhealthy outcome in both spirit and body for those folks.
So To Prosper should not necessarily be linked to a one-dimensional measuring stick of the outcome of what it can mean To Prosper.
I eat food To Prosper… but I can over-eat and have the opposite impact of being prosperous in that arena.
If we try to use this thought of To Prosper to redefine success, we can see that success is equal to blessing in as much as we have not contorted what is healthy into something that is unhealthy in the extreme.
One of the words translated to success actually had a better definition of ‘to be well’.
So I would say that any blessing from God is meant for our wellness and is therefore success. When we contort God’s blessings by either hoarding for ourselves or taking the credit for our blessing we then turn what others may have called a success into something unwholesome and unwell and no longer a blessing unto us but a curse.
If I were to try to take my meanderings and make them cohesive, I would say it this way:
Success is rightly recognizing and administering God’s blessings in our life
Tony, always appreciate your thoughtful posts on Pete’s blog – but today I had to for mentioning BlueLetterBible.org – I had never heard of it – what a cool resource! Thanks!
Well said Tony.
The question immediately brought to mind the story from Luke, in which the self-satisfied and smug farmer found his worldly goods left behind.
“So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” (12:21)
great question!
For me – success is something that I achieve, but blessing is something that is gifted from God.
I would much rather be blessed.
I think success can come from blessing… as a fruit of it… but I think there is another type of “success” that axes God out. I don’t want that kind of success.
Pete – dang you always make my brain ponder w/your questions
love it!
Ok, had to do a part 2 – was reading Joshua this week… apparently the ONLY time the hebrew word for success is used in the bible is Joshua 1:8: “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.”
Strongs #7919: שכל (sakal): to be prudent, be circumspect, wisely understand, prosper
So cool!!!
We are all blessed with Blessings. Recognizing that, and feeling grateful and humble in that knowing, is Success.
All success is not blessing. Satan offered Jesus all the kingdoms of the world if he would just bow down and worship him.
That would have not been a blessing but rather a curse.
Great Biblical example David!
Thank you for leaving a comment at my blog! Your book has helped me through some bitter pain with my teenager. I also bought a copy for a pastor who is going through a crisis. To answer your question Yes success and blessing are totally different. Success is when you can experience blessing in whatever circumstance you are in; even the rough places.
I believe that God is in complete control and therefore my success is a blessing…as easy as it is to own it and claim that I achieved it. And believe me, that’s an easy one. It’s so important for me to put on a constant heart of gratitude for every good thing I have in my life, which is a ton. But as others have said, sometimes blessings come in other forms than success. Even illness and pain can be a blessing when it brings us closer to Him.
Yep!
I haven’t thought a lot about it, but I’m sure you are on the right track. Afterall, you can be a successful drug dealer or pimp but I’m pretty sure that’s not because God is blessing you ventures.
I don’t know.
I think maybe it comes down to the way you look at success. If success is making it or knowing the right people, or having a big following then I think the idea of blessings will look way different. But if success looks like doing what God has called you to do then blessings seem to be the same thing.
True that!
Great question – great answers and thoughts.
For me? I simply don’t know.
OK…I’ll bite.
I think a success is something that I have to do something about . Somehow I can take “credit” for at least being involved in the happening. Or at least I have to shoulder some of the work/responsibility/creativity for. It doesn’t happen independent of me.
I think a blessing is something that God just hands me. I can’t possibly earn it, work for it, deserve it, or be the force behind it. God just says “Here Bubba, you’re gonna need this before you’re done there.”
I can use a blessing to create a success, but I can never make my successes lead to blessings. They don’t come from my labor, but His grace.
At least that’s my view. help me out here. Am I in line with what the Bible teaches on this???
Man… I just read the other posts and I gotta tell ya. We got some pretty cool people on this trip with us. I want to steal MainlineMom’s reply. Then Morgan’s, then Britt’s … Just wow.
I read a book by Bob Sorge called Dealing with the Rejection and Praise of Man. He said that rejection and praise are two sides of the same coin. Our focus needs to be on God and what He thinks of us. We can’t let ourselves be influenced by what people think of us. We need to do everything out of obedience to Him, so that the only opinion of us that matters is His opinion. When we keep our focus right, the external circumstances of our lives don’t change us. The praises of man don’t affect us. It’s similar to the idea of performing for an audience of One. His opinion of me is the only opinion that matters. So whether I’m successful in the world’s eyes or in my own eyes, I should not be affected by that. Obedience to Him and intimacy with Him is all that matters.
Great post. The difference for me is that I often find it easy to recognize sucess but I sometimes fail to recognize the blessings all around me.
Success requires work..
Blessings are free..
I don’t want to be a success, I want to be effective.
I think they’re one in the same. I think success is what happens when we take the talent that God has blessed us with to obtain a goal. We cannot have success without God blessing us with a certain talent or talents. If say for instance I’m an author and I write a book and it becomes a successful book which in turn makes me successful then obviously that would be a blessing. If I’m a singer and release a cd that becomes sucessful which in turn makes me successful then that’s a blessing.
I, also think it depends on each person’s view of success. If I write a book and only one person is touched by it then I, myself view that as successful, but not everybody would view it as successful, so it all depends on one’s view of success.
Success and blessing are two different things. Blessings are given from God to man. Success is taking the blessings God gave you and creating something either for His glory or for your own. That is where choice comes in. Honor God with the blessings He gave you and He will honor you with great success for His glory.
Pete,
As always a thoughtful question that all of us struggle with but should find an answer.
When David was running from Saul in the forests he was not successful but definitely blessed; when he was a king and looking at Bathsheba, he was successful but cursed. Even after that he still was a king (successful) and that was God’s grace.
Joseph
People who are a “success” might or might not be a blessing. But people who are a blessing will always be a success in the eyes of those they have come alongside. Love makes all the difference.
I have no idea how God defines the terms success, blessing, prosperity, vision… if definition is even necessary to the all in all. I think we are the ones who get hung up on the distinctions and make our lives all about parsing, defining and labeling.
It’s fun to play with words and put them together in new ways. It’s satisfying to link ideas into novel creations and to be the person or the institution who is viewed as forward thinking or cutting edge or brilliant or “successful”…but without love anything we do is just noise.
I think one part of the definition for a blessing is that it comes from God. As many of your other comments have noted, there are opportunities that point towards success that didn’t come from God. Daniel could have been thought of as giving up the potential for a successful position when he refused to stop praying. Even though it resulted in being thrown in the lion’s den, God surely blessed him because he followed His commands. While God may use success to bless us, just because we are successful doesn’t mean its His reward to us.
That being said, since every good and perfect gift comes from God, the fact that God lets us experience success, is a blessing!
Sounds like a great next book for you, Pete!
Lots of room to think and explore.
As I thought, I asked: How are we defining success or blessing? Spiritual success? Or material success? Spiritual blessing? Or financial blessing?
Then I saw that many of you had had the same idea. Many answers, all different, depending on how we define those two words.
To me, Jeremiah was successful. But he spent years of his life in prison.
And I certainly believe God blessed him. Yet in chap. 12, v. 1-3 he said “As for me – Lord, you know my heart – you know how much it longs for you. (And I am poor, O Lord!)”
Was Jeremiah successful? Was he blessed? Materially, neither. Spiritually, both. And has my own family experienced that? Very definitely yes.
Hmmm…good question. It’s been a crazy wonderful week for me and I’ve been thinking about this a lot too…
Blessings are found in the current of God’s plans for my days.
Successes are found in the current of everyone else’s approval.
Successes are identifiable and consistent.
Blessings look different in every person’s life.
The benefits of success are glaringly obvious to all watching and immediately attainable.
The benefits of blessings may not be seen by others now, tomorrow or ever, but the peace and joy of being found in the River are incomparably greater than receiving glory from others.
Success is relavent to human exsistence man and any living thing must have success,We thrive from knowing someone will be successful. Blessing is not on the same level as success Blessing is a gift Blessing is a result of love, kindness, charity, supernatural in nature, therefore blessing leads to all truth The way to know our creator, The language we call universal gifts is blessing.
true