Created for Success

"Then God said, "Let Us make mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the livestock and over all the earth, and over every crawling thing that crawls on the earth." Genesis 1:26

Do you see what's happening in this verse? Look again, in case you missed it. God just made the sun, moon, and stars, the Earth, and all of the animals. And He says, let's make a creature in Our image (the image of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) to rule on Our behalf. You are created in the powerful image of God. You were made unique and special, with talents and personality that is as unique as your fingerprints. And you were made for a purpose; you have a job to do. God created you in the image of success.

God's gifts are the best. The Creator of Orion's Belt does not lack anything to give you. When God gifted Abraham land "so that all of the World would be blessed," He gave them the very best. The Promised Land was the pinnacle of the trading routes for Europe, Asia, and Africa; the land was rich, with access to the World's oceans. Why else is this some of the most fought over land on Earth?

So, what happened? We are not all successful; every one of us fails at least some time. Our sin breaks God's plans. When we act selfishly, seeking success, hope, and joy in anything other than Christ, we fail regardless of the outcome. "For they exchanged the truth of God for falsehood, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator… for this reason God gave them over to degrading passions… God gave them up to a depraved mind…claiming to be wise they became fools…" While you were made for success, you were not made for success without God. Everything you do without Him is fleeting and unfulfilling. Your life is a vapor, here today and gone tomorrow, which would be unbearably depressing if Christ did not step into our lives to redeem us.

So, what should we do? First, recognize your identity in Christ; in Him is salvation and full life that matters in eternity. Second, know that God created you for Himself, for the very image of success. Realize that you own nothing; God as Creator and King owns it all. Third, live life free, not as a fool chasing something that will never last. Read David's Psalm personally, "Certainly, Your goodness and mercy will follow me all of my life; and I will live in the house of the Lord forever!"

Prayer: Father, help me see that You made me for success in Christ. You made me live free and run hard with You, being successful in this life wherever You put me. Make me know that I cannot do this without You. I was not made for little successes or failures that mean nothing. You created me for Your glory. So, I need Your goodness, mercy, and identity as a member of Your family forever.

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Identity

Are You A “Rich Young Ruler”? How Priorities and Identity Reveal Heart

Identity

"Are you a rich young ruler?" is a question every faith-driven leader must honestly assess if they are to lead an organization with faithful integrity in alignment with Biblical beliefs, principles, and priorities (what I will call business a better way).

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What Makes Work Meaningful or Meaningless?

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With a deep-rooted identity in Christ, we can begin to find joy, inspiration, and meaning in whatever we do.

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Bravery in Vulnerability: Why Empathy is Important in Leadership

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Empathy requires vulnerability. Could I be brave enough to be vulnerable? If I wanted someone to rejoice or weep with me, I needed to let people know how I felt. Trust people with my emotions, needs, and mess.

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How I Found My Calling in Total Home Organization

Identity

Have you ever felt called to do something, and you knew beyond a shadow of a doubt it was God telling you to do it?

Identity

Be A Different Type of Entrepreneur!

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Entrepreneurship lessons from the owner of Tacos 4 Life, a mission-driven taco restaurant.

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From Striving to Calling: How to Make Work More Meaningful

Identity

“Selling my business and taking home $100M was the worst decision I ever made,” a well-known entrepreneur once said. I was floored. How could this be?

Identity

Growth, Identity, Confidence and Self Doubt

8 Biblical Pillars of Rapid Transformation

Growth, Identity, Confidence and Self Doubt

You cannot grow what you do not take ownership or responsibility over the results. If permission makes the next level possible, ownership makes the next level real. It's taking dominion (i.e. dominating/ruling) over the area God has assigned to you.

Growth, Identity, Confidence and Self Doubt

Identity

What Do You Want?

Identity

When I asked him the question, “What do you want?” he slowly responded with the words: “To paint again.” The slowness of his response came out of guilt he felt because he’d been led to believe that an answer like that was selfish

Identity

Identity, Discern

A New Perspective Focused on Purpose and Calling

Identity, Discern

“You are right. I have to let God paint the picture!”

Now, many years later, the picture that God painted for her is beautiful, though very different and much better than anyone could have dreamed.

Identity, Discern

Identity

Is Jesus Just Your Adjective?: The Problem with “Christian Entrepreneurs”

Identity

Disordered words can shape and distort our very identity and our behavior at work. In some sense, we can become who we say we are, which means we need to be very careful how we describe who we are.

Identity

Discern, Identity

Work, Joy, and the Glory of God

Discern, Identity

I believe that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. And I also believe that if we were to examine our hearts and minds, we would find we spend a lot of time and energy often seeking ways to be satisfied (outside of Jesus), looking to things on this earth for fulfillment, and searching for purpose and meaning to all our work and toil—and all our activities.

Discern, Identity

Identity, Practical Advice

Gazing At The Right Thing

Identity, Practical Advice

I recently realized the power of fixing my eyes on beautiful things when—on a particularly frustrating day—I hopped in my car, ready to tell God how annoyed I was by various situations, but caught a glimpse of a cluster of trees that were the perfect blend of fall colors.

Identity, Practical Advice

Church and Theology of Work, Identity

Dear Entrepreneur: Don't Worship Work

Church and Theology of Work, Identity

Many of us entered entrepreneurial work to find a sense of satisfaction, meaning, and significance. Eventually, though, we all realize we can’t find those things there.

Church and Theology of Work, Identity

Leadership, Identity

From Chameleon To Integration: Perspectives On Lifestyle Leadership

Leadership, Identity

"Too many times, I feel like a chameleon, trying to figure out what color I must become next to play things safe and prove my worth to others. As a leader, I’m constantly shifting, not firmly planted in my convictions. I don’t understand all of the reasons I act this way, but I know this isn’t the leader I want to be."

Leadership, Identity

Identity, Leadership

The Idol of Grit

Identity, Leadership

Though most of us aren’t bowing to statues or poles, we’d argue from personal experience that many leaders’ idol of choice is the idol of our own abilities: a good thing we are tempted to distort into the ultimate thing.

Identity, Leadership

Identity

Letting Go of Prosperity

Identity

When we consider the true gospel, it seems as though, we almost exclusively view it in light of our personal lives. So we end up holding two very different, frankly, mutually exclusive gospels. It’s no wonder we struggle to integrate our faith and work.

Identity

Who Are You?

Identity

If you do not understand who you are, you will always be looking in other places for the answer. You will take your questions of identity and self-worth to your job or your spouse or another man or woman.

Identity

3 Things to Measure Your Life Against

Identity

Line your life up against the right guides and they’ll guide you home. Three of the guides I use to line up against are satisfaction, leverage, and maturity. Let me tell you why.

Identity

Shame Never Made Anyone a Better Entrepreneur

Identity

The past 2 years of my life have been a long season of learning a lot about obedience. It hasn’t always (read: rarely) been a pretty or smooth process.

Identity

Women Entrepreneurs, Identity

Confession and Freedom

Women Entrepreneurs, Identity

Confess your sins to one another talk to each other about what's going on in your life. And that will keep you in a place of freedom.

Women Entrepreneurs, Identity

Identity, Discern

In Defense of Standing Out

Identity, Discern

Standing out matters because it’s hard. Truly standing out, from the inside-out, takes more than just a new habit, lifestyle, or mindset. It takes a transformation of the heart, a supernatural act of God.

Identity, Discern

Identity, Injustice

Differences Don't Have to Be a Downside

Identity, Injustice

As entrepreneurs, believers and leaders, may we use the opportunity to showcase the delight instead of the disability as we create a world that embraces people of all abilities, one moment, one interaction at a time.

Identity, Injustice

Leadership, Identity

What is a Christian CEO? 9 Essential Roles To Take On

Leadership, Identity

What’s your job? Often times the last person to have a clear job description, KPIs and defined responsibilities is the CEO. It’s easy to have a role by default rather than by design.

Leadership, Identity

Identity

The Five Marks of a Faith Driven Entrepreneur

Identity

A faith driven entrepreneur is an active participant in the bringing about of God's Kingdom on Earth as it is in Heaven.

Identity

Fireproofing Your Identity

Identity

Despite everything I knew about where I should find my sense of identity and worth, I had found too much of it in something other than my relationship with God.

Identity

Created for Success

Identity

God's gifts are the best. The Creator of Orion's Belt does not lack anything to give you. When God gifted Abraham land "so that all of the World would be blessed," He gave them the very best.

Identity

Identity, Ministry in Deed, Servant Leadership

The Search for Humility

Identity, Ministry in Deed, Servant Leadership

I have become convinced that humility is God's secret weapon to thwart the ultimate enemy of pride and bring pockets of heaven to earth. If I can focus on how Jesus must increase and I must decrease, then God will, without fail, use me for his purposes. Easier said than done.

Identity, Ministry in Deed, Servant Leadership

Identity, Injustice

In Pursuit of Dignity: A Challenge to Change-Makers

Identity, Injustice

What would it look like if we all consult the people ‘less valuable’ to truly understand their actual and not an assumed need? What would it look like to brainstorm solutions together with people who have lower education levels and a scarcity of resources, yet hold an abundance of community connection and resourcefulness?

Identity, Injustice

Identity

What Does Your Identity Inspire?

Identity

JD Greear dives into the connection between the amazing reality of our identity as children of God and how that identity inspires us to love our neighbors through our vocations.

Identity