Success

I have been thinking about success lately. I was in our annual district prayer conference for the C&MA in October and the subject for the conference was what is success. I was struct that we so often say success is one thing and yet work to bring about success in other areas and neglect the one area we say we need to have success in. Let me give and example. If I were to ask you what would success mean for you in your family you may give an answer that would include close relationships, openness and understanding. Yet in practice our focus in our families is just getting through the day or week and we fail to do anything to foster closeness, openness and understanding. When I first started out being a pastor a friend of mine asked me what I would consider success in my ministry. And as I thought about it I came to this conclusion. If I was faithful to do what God had called me to do in all areas then I would be able to say I was successful even if the ministry failed or fell apart. The faithfulness/obedience to God was what was important. Yet sometimes I find myself working to make sure the ministry is successful and ignore doing the things God has called me to complete. Without a constant reminder of what success really means to me I get off track. So what does success mean to you? How are you going about trying to make sure you are successful?