Robert Fulghum

“If at first you don’t succeed, redefine success!”—Robert Fulghum.

In Matthew 25, Jesus tells a story about a man who attempted to redefine success.

The story begins with a master giving three of his servants a substantial amount of money to invest. Each was given a different sum, but they each had the responsibility to be good stewards of the master’s resources. Each was expected to show a profit for his efforts.

After a while, the master came back to see how well each servant had done. The first two had doubled their master’s money and were praised and rewarded for their efforts. However, the third one simply hid the money so that he wouldn’t lose it. He gave it back to the master, thinking that he had not failed. However, his attempt to redefine success did not please the master. This servant was chastised and severely punished for his failure.

We have to be careful that we don’t redefine success in God’s kingdom. Unless we faithfully invest the resources that God has given us—time, talent, money and opportunities, for example—we will not succeed; we will fail miserably.

To do nothing for God is to fail. Let us not set our own standards, but accept God’s definition for success.