Proverbs 3:4

“So you will find favor and good success
    in the sight of God and man.”

Joshua 1:7

“Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go”

         What exactly is success? How do we define something that so many different people have an opinion on what it really means? What we really want to do here is see what does God view as success? How do we live a life of success for God?

         As we look at the first verse above, we really need to read Proverbs 3:1-12 to get the full understand of what exactly God is talking about with success here, but I will try to summarize. In the beginning of chapter 3 God is talking about “keeping the commands of God”, even to the point that so that you don’t forget them you “tie them around your neck.” He even goes on further down in chapter 3 to talk about how we should look to God in our financial dealings also. Now, how ironic is that? Most people think of success by how much money you have, but here in Proverbs 3 it is telling us that we should look to God to see what we should do with our money. In fact if you look at the first 12 verses of chapter 3 the whole thing is about looking to God. So I would have to say that God says that success in life is depending on him, and doing his commands. We will look at the commands part in just a second.

         But let’s look at the second verse we have up there from Joshua 1:7 where God is telling us that we should “be careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you.” There it is again that we should pay attention to the commands that God has given us. Now that is the second time that that particular phrase or wording about the “commands of God” has been used so it obviously has a lot to do with being successful in obeying God. But we might ask the question, “What exactly is the commands of God?” Well I’m glad that we came to the question because I believe that when we understand the commands of God, it will make it easier for us to follow them, and in turn live what God calls a successful life.

         Let’s look and see what Jesus had to say about the commandments. We find him talking about them in Matthew 22:37-40 when he is asked what the greatest command of them all is. He answers “And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

         So in short, Jesus says that you should love God, and you should love people. So that is what I would say is the key to a successful life. Following God’s commands of loving Him and loving other people. If we can do our best, through God leading us, then we will be living a successful life in the eyes of God, and that is what we are truly chasing after.

         So it doesn’t matter how much money you have, what kind of car you drive, or what kind of house you live in. What matters to God when it comes to success is the fact do you love him? And do you love the other people around you? So why do we get so caught up in having the next best things in life when our success really doesn’t hinge on that at all, what it really hinges on is how much are we willing to love other people. So I believe that if you are searching for success in Gods eye then start loving Him with all you have, and love all other people.