June 6 2017 – Click here to listen
I suppose anyone who has accomplished much in life is asked at one time or other what they consider to be their greatest accomplishment. The dictionary defines success as the attainment of wealth, power, fame, or accomplishing a significant feat.
I disagree with that definition simply because I know so many wealthy, famous, powerful, people who have tons of accomplishments under their belts who are utterly miserable.
While those things can give some satisfaction to life they don’t last. My definition is the attainment of peace, joy, and love in one’s life. They all come from God.
Several years ago, I watched a television show, (60 Minutes I believe), in which a former shoe salesman had married the heiress of the Mars candy bar fortune. He made $300/ week when he married the billionaire. After a few years of marriage, she decided to divorce him and he was suing her for a million dollars alimony.
The reporter asked what it was like to go from being a shoe salesman to living the life of a billionaire and he simply responded, “You get used to it.” He went on to say at first it was amazing, but very quickly it lost its luster.
While most find this incredulous it is a very accurate portrayal of having great wealth. Having gone from homeless to a multimillionaire I can relate. I remember in my early days riding the bus to work and saving money for years in order to finally buy my first new car when I was 30 years old, and how proud I was of it. As my career progressed at one point I had 15 cars and didn’t give a hoot about any of them.
The same was true with houses. When we first got married we rented a tiny apartment. As we worked hard and made more money, we graduated to a modest home that we rented, and finally after several more years we scraped up enough money to afford the down payment to buy a modest home. I worked on that house constantly, finishing the basement, landscaping the yard, and so on. Later I owned five huge houses and thought they were all a royal pain in the neck and didn’t care about any of them.
I’ve found that no material thing can bring someone peace and contentment, much less true joy; those valuable assets are only available to those who have a solid daily relationship with God.
That is why so many celebrities, athletes and famous wealthy people whom so many admire, end up committing suicide. They try alcohol, drugs, sex, money, material things and all the stuff the world offers, and yet they still have a hole in their hearts. That hole can only be filled with the love of Christ.
So, just the other day my oldest son just got promoted to Vice President of a huge billion-dollar IT company, my middle son is CEO of a huge software entity, my youngest son is a financial planner with Merrill Lynch and just got accepted into the highly coveted Leadership Gwinnett in Atlanta. My grandchildren are doing excellent, my oldest granddaughter just received straight A’s in college, her older brother is graduating in a week or so and already has a job with a huge company in their finance division, their younger brother who is still in high school has excelled in every sport and is doing great academically and a sure bet for a scholarship. My twin granddaughters have likewise excelled academically and athletically, my youngest son’s kids are following suite with his oldest grandson having just made the President’s list and his younger brother right there with him academically and both are gifted athletically.
But most importantly all my children and grandchildren love Jesus. The grandkids actually argue among themselves about who “gets” to say the blessing at mealtime. Imagine considering getting to say a prayer at mealtime to be a privilege
It is a far cry from the way I grew up. So aside from having developed my faith and ongoing relationship with Jesus Christ, my greatest accomplishment is raising a family that follows Jesus and not the world. I praise God for His blessings and for their decisions not to go down the path of destruction that so many who are blessed with wealth follow.
I hope your greatest accomplishments in life are like mine. My advice is not to long for the things of this world and teach your kids the same. Being close to God is the greatest blessing one could ever hope for and it is available to anyone regardless of race, gender, financial status, education et al . . . You can have it whether you are in a tiny apartment or a grand mansion.
1 John 2:15
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions — is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.