Saturday morning scriptures and stuff.... "Success vs. Significance"

We all want to be successful, right?  I must admit that I spent much of my 20's and 30's consumed with thoughts of being "successful".  I even put off doing some things that I knew should be priorities, thinking to myself that I would get to those things after I reached a particular goal or achieved a certain amount of success.   The bad thing is that those priorities got lost in the shuffle because some of those goals never got reached.  Uh-oh. 

    A friend of mine recently told me that at some point in your life, you shift your thinking from wanting to be successful, to wanting to be significant.  That was one of those eye-opening "Oh Yes!" moments for me.  Significance!!  That's what I'm really searching for... but how do I get there??

It's a healthy human attribute to want our life to count for something.  We want to be significant.  We want to matter. -- I don't know about you, but when I think of "significant" people, I usually think of names like Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, Billy Graham, Thomas Edison or Albert Einstein.  I then start to think, "Well, they were special individuals who had great gifts that I do not have, so there's no way I can make a difference in this world like they did."   Well, maybe I won't make a difference the way THEY did, but that doesn't mean I can't make a difference in my OWN way. 

Do you think Thomas Edison thought to himself, "Hmmm... I really want to be "significant".  What can I do to leave a legacy behind that will show that what I did left a lasting impression on mankind??  Hey, I know!! I'll invent a lightbulb!  THAT should do it!"

Do you think Mother Teresa woke up one day and said, "Well now, I really want to be "significant".  What can I do to make sure people remember me and all the good I did for years and years to come?  Hey, I know!!  I'll become a nun and devote my life to mission work and charities!  THAT should do it!" 

No, something tells me those scenarios didn't happen.  They weren't on a search for "significance".  They were just doing what they were born to do.  Using the gifts God gave them.  I'll bet they just looked at each day as an opportunity to use those gifts and make the most of them.  A little bit at a time.

"We must not ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee."  - Marian Wright Edelman

My women's bible study group is in the middle of reading Angie Smith's new book "What Women Fear".  This week we discussed Chapter 7 which is the "Fear of Not being Signficant".    I learned two really important lessons in that chapter.

         1. You can't let the approval or recognition of other people be our barometer of whether or not we matter,  because those other people are flawed the same way you are and they can't objectively evaluate who you are.

        2. You can't compare yourself to other people (ie Mother Teresa).  Comparing leads to competition.  That will either lead you to be puffed up in your victory or deflated by your failure. 

Angie also writes, "The desire to be significant is God-given and, I believe, intended to make us long for the ways He chooses to use us."

USE us?  You mean, being significant is about being USED?  Ah-ha!  I may be a little slow, but I think I'm starting to get it now.   How can I REALLY feel significant?  Follow in Jesus' footsteps.  Be a servant.  USE your gifts to serve others.


Luke 22 says:

 25 Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. 26 But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. 27 For who is greater,  the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.

Serve. Sacrifice. Love 


I want to write those three words on my bathroom mirror so every morning I'll remember those are the three ways to be significant.  When I do those things, I know I am mirroring what our savior Jesus did to be significant.  And you can't help but touch others in significant ways when you do them.

No matter what we do, we are always significant to the One who matters --God. He made each one of us deliberately and with unique gifts.  We are all precious to Him and carrying THAT truth is what gives me the courage to step out of my comfort zone and serve.  It doesn't matter what the world thinks of me.  HE loves me.  And that's all that really matters.


Have a great week my friends!!