I felt like a failure. I was always striving but never arriving.
I had worked hard in school, dreaming of becoming a doctor. But a medical school recruiter told me my poor eyesight made that impossible. Lost and uncertain, I changed majors and eventually earned a degree in economics. However, instead of pursuing the high-powered, money-making career the world told me I needed, I married young and started a family.
After years as a stay-at-home mom, I earned my master’s in education and began teaching. But instead of fulfilling me, juggling work and motherhood left me feeling exhausted and stretched thin. No matter how hard I tried, contentment and success felt just out of reach.
Maybe you’ve been there too. It’s easy to measure our worth by the world’s definition of success. We constantly hear messages telling us what we need to do to become successful. Family, friends, and social media fuel comparison and leave us feeling like we’re falling behind.
Whose Standard Defines Your Worth?
Friend, if you’re tired of striving but never arriving, ask yourself whose definition you’re using to measure your worth: the world’s or God’s.
The world defines worth by external factors such as our job, social status, money, appearance, or relationships. Worldly standards leave us constantly striving to prove our worth, yet feeling as if we never quite measure up.
In contrast, as Christ followers, God defines our worth by our identity, not our performance, possessions, or position. According to the Bible, we are:
- Fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14)
- Created in God’s image (Genesis 1:27).
- God’s beloved children (Ephesians 5:1)
- Clothed in the righteousness of Christ (Isaiah 61:10).
Are You Chasing the Right Goals?
The world encourages us to pursue goals centered on wealth, fame, power, possessions, popularity, and personal achievement. Success becomes about getting ahead, competing with others, and accomplishing more. We can spend our lives striving for these things, only to discover they don’t bring the fulfillment we expect.
God offers a different measure of success. His purpose for our lives centers on loving others, following His will, and using the gifts He has given us to serve. God doesn’t equate our accomplishments with arriving in life. He looks at our hearts. As His Word reminds us, “For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7, ESV).
What Does Godly Success Look Like?
God measures success by the fruit we exhibit in our lives. He hopes we will produce the fruit of the Spirit. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23, ESV).
These qualities may not look impressive by the world’s standards, but they are what truly matter to God. To God, success may look like loving someone who is difficult to love or choosing peace in chaotic circumstances. Godly success also entails patient perseverance and faithful service, even without recognition.
Godly success is not about striving or arriving. It is about becoming more like Jesus.
Do You Find Yourself Striving but Never Arriving?
Do you feel like no matter how hard you try, you don’t measure up? If so, pause and ask yourself: Whose measure of value and success are you using?
God’s ways look foolish by the world’s standards, but they lead to freedom. When you surrender the world’s standards of value and success and embrace God’s, the Holy Spirit will help you produce good fruit. As you follow God’s Word and ways, you will find peace and purpose as you pursue the goals He has for you.
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