Q: Does God want me to have a good life and be successful?
A: Yes—but we need to understand what God calls success.
God didn’t create you so you could waste your life, bury your abilities, refuse to work, and simply wait for Heaven.
He gave you a life.
Use it.
Work hard. Provide for your family. Develop the abilities God gave you. Build something. Help people. Enjoy the blessings you have. Get back up when you fail and become wiser from what you’ve been through.
Jesus said:
“I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” — John 10:10
But an abundant life should never be confused with a guaranteed wealthy life.
God never promised every faithful Christian a mansion, a perfect career, a huge bank account or a life without suffering. Some of the most faithful people in Scripture suffered tremendously.
Biblical success is deeper than that.
Q: Is it wrong to want money or success?
A: No.
Money can feed your family, build a business, employ people, help someone struggling and accomplish tremendous good.
The Bible doesn’t say money itself is evil. It warns about “the love of money.” — 1 Timothy 6:10.
There’s a difference between having money and money having you.
Work hard. Build something successful. Become excellent at what you do. If God blesses your efforts financially, be grateful and use those blessings wisely.
But never measure your worth by your bank account.
Jesus asked one of the most sobering questions ever spoken:
“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” — Mark 8:36
You can win at business and lose at life.
You can own everything and still have nothing that matters.
Q: Does the Bible encourage hard work?
A: Absolutely.
“And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;” — Colossians 3:23
Whatever you do—work at it.
Don’t spend your life waiting for someone else to create your future.
Use your mind.
Use your hands.
Use your opportunities.
Take care of your responsibilities.
And when you succeed, remember where your abilities and opportunities came from.
God isn’t asking you to choose between faithfulness and ambition.
He’s asking you to keep ambition in its proper place.
Let success be something you use, not something you worship.
Q: So what does a truly successful life look like?
A: A successful life is one where you can look back and know you didn’t waste what God gave you.
You worked.
You loved your family.
You helped people.
You kept your word.
You learned from your failures.
You enjoyed God’s blessings without allowing those blessings to become your god.
You stayed faithful.
And through everything you accomplished, you never forgot what mattered most.
There is nothing wrong with wanting a better life.
Build the business.
Take the opportunity.
Provide for your family.
Become better at what you do.
Enjoy what God has allowed you to have.
Just never become so successful in this world that you forget you’re eventually leaving it.
Because the greatest success isn’t dying with the most.
It’s standing before God knowing you didn’t waste the life He gave you.
— Restored Life After