'To Bless All Mankind' September 19, 2016 Issue

Looking for success in the right place

Randal Craft

Adapted from an article published in The Christian Science Monitor, July 11, 2016.

It’s not easy for companies to see their competitors get ahead because they are paying bribes to officials overseas. Nor is it any easier for an athlete to see his competitive edge slip away because of drug use by competitors, or for students to watch others achieve higher grades because of cheating. Yet, resisting such temptations can ultimately bring a greater payoff.

The greater payoff involves looking for success in the right place—within a broader concept than just the “bottom line” or the number of wins or high grades. Success within this broader concept involves a higher sense of fulfillment, one that results in true gain; it acknowledges that success is linked to integrity and involves resisting immoral temptations such as bribery, cheating, etc.—using moral means to reach our goals. Success in the right place is also measured by whether we earnestly employed our resources and talents through hard work.

We can find encouragement in the Bible. For example, King Solomon saw the connection between righteousness and prosperity when he said, “He that trusteth in his riches shall fall: but the righteous shall flourish as a branch” (Proverbs 11:28). He also acknowledged the importance of hard work: “He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich” (Proverbs 10:4). Competition today seems to be all-encompassing and could try to lure us to immoral means and shortcuts. Yet the Bible and our very own experience can help us understand that riches, in and of themselves, can be illusive, temporary, and undependable. True success, the kind that endures, is gained through moral means and diligent work.

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