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I want to preach to you this morning about cultivating success.
I am of the firm persuasion that God wants believers to be successful Christians.
But, with that said, let’s be absolutely clear this morning—God’s idea of success if far different than our culture’s idea of success.
God never measures you successfulness by the size of your house, or the size of your bank account.
He measures it by the size of your obedience.
This morning, let me give you some suggestions on how to cultivate a successful life.
It requires striking a balance between heart and mind, between spirit and flesh, and between body and soul.
The balanced life lies at the heart of successful living.
The balanced life like so many other worthwhile pursuits requires diligence.
You learn to order your life the same way you learn to do math problems or play baseball well—through practice.
Living a balanced life requires four priorities.
!
I. PRIORITY #1 YOU MUST CULTIVATE SELF-DISCIPLINE
* ILLUS.
When Alexander the Great was just a boy, his father had a beautiful, but untamed, stallion which could not be broken.
Philip, Alexander’s father, was about to sell the horse, but Alexander begged that he might have him.
Noticing that the animal was frightened at his shadow, Alexander mounted him, turned the stallion’s face toward the sun, and let him run until he was totally exhausted.
He repeated this each day, and in the course of time had tamed what seemed to be an untamable animal.
At sixteen years of age Philip trusted Alexander with the throne of Greece.
At seventeen Alexander conquered Byzantium.
By the age of 21 he had destroyed Thebes.
At 25 he had conquered the ancient empire of Babylonia.
And at 33 he had subdued the whole civilized world of his day.
But at 34 he was dead.
Alexander had learned to conquer animals.
He had learned how to lead men.
He had learned how to conquer nations.
But he never learned how to master himself.
Alexander was morally bankrupt and he drank himself to death before he had the chance to do anything with the world he had conquered.
#. cultivating self-discipline is a life-long process
#. self-discipline means that there will be times when you will have to say No to some things you really want to do
#.
like spending when you ought to be saving
#. like playing when you ought to working
#.
like hating when you need to be loving
#. like biting your tongue when what you really want to do is flame someone with your words
#. self-discipline also means that there will be times when you will have to say Yes to some things you really don’t want to do
#.
like studying when you would really rather be recreating
#. like being selfless when you really want to be selfish
#. like leading when you’d really rather be following
#. the apostle Paul talked a lot about self-discipline and used sports as an example
* 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 /“You know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize.
So run to win!
All those who compete in the games use self-control so they can win a crown.
That crown is an earthly thing that lasts only a short time, but our crown will never be destroyed.
So I do not run without a goal.
I fight like a boxer who is hitting something—not just the air.
I treat my body hard and make it my slave so that I myself will not be disqualified after I have preached to others.”/
NCV
#.
Paul was a sports fan who understood that athletic competition requires a high degree of self-discipline
#. tremendous discipline is required to keep in shape
#. the number of hours an athlete must train so he can win in competition is staggering
#. an athlete who competes internationally frequently trains eight hours a day for as long as five to ten years of his life to gain world-class form
#. he must push himself to the point where he will no longer experience pain, to a point beyond a second wind
#. that’s self-discipline — you will not succeed in life without it
* ILLUS.
The greatest achievements in life are usually accomplished by people who have a singular desire that becomes the ruling passion of all they do.
When Bob Feller was a child, he loved baseball.
By the age of 5 he spent three hours every day pitching at a hole he had cut in the wall of his father’s barn.
At 10 his father bought him all the necessary equipment and built him a ballfield on the family farm.
And, he continued to pitch through that hole in the barn wall three hours every day.
At 13 he pitched for a local team and averaged 20 strikeouts a game.
And he continued to pitch through that hole in the barn wall three hours every day.
At 17 he began playing for the Cleveland Indians.
He continued to practice pitching three hours every day.
As a major leaguer he had 6 seasons as a 20 game winner, 3 no-hit games, 11 1-hitters, 266 wins, and he set a record of 348 strikeouts in 1 season.
He is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Bob Feller had one desire — baseball!
Self-discipline made him a success.
#. cultivate self-discipline
!
II.
PRIORITY #2 YOU MUST CULTIVATE CHRISTIAN FRIENDSHIPS
#. friends are often the difference between one man’s success and another’s failure
* ILLUS.
Charles H. Spurgeon, a 19th century English preacher, once said, /“Friendship is one of the sweetest joys of life.
Many might have failed beneath the bitterness of their trial had they not found a friend.”/
#. the main business of friendship is to sustain and make bearable each other's burdens
* Galatians 6:2 /"Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ."
KJV
#. the New Century Version says it this way
* Galatians 6:2 /"By helping each other with your troubles, you truly obey the law of Christ."/
NCV
#. this is the most important job that a friend has
#.
getting through the tough times, offering encouragement when the other desperately needs it, shoring each other up to face the unfairness of existence
#. someone once described a friend as /“Someone who knows all about you, and likes you anyway.”/
#.
Lawrence Peters says, /"You can always tell a real friend by the fact that when you've made a fool of yourself he doesn't feel you've done a permanent job."/
#. a friend is one who never gets in the way, except when you are on the way down
#. a friend knows your weaknesses but shows you your strengths
#. a friend feels your fears but fortifies your faith
#. a friend sees your anxieties but encourages your spirit
#. a friend recognizes your disabilities but emphasizes your possibilities
* ILLUS.
If you were to visit the Florida home of Thomas Edison, you'd be intrigued by a path in his garden he called "The Walk of Friendship."
What makes it unique is the fact that each stone was contributed by a different acquaintance of the inventor.
That memorial path is symbolic.
We all walk on stones of helpfulness provided by friends, each of whom brings something of value into our lives.
#. you live the balanced life by cultivating friends
#. you cultivate friends by being the kind of friend to others that you would like to have for yourself
!
III.
PRIORITY #3 YOU MUST CULTIVATE YOUR MIND & CONTINUALLY LEARN NEW THINGS
* ILLUS.
A friend once asked the great philosopher Aristotle what the difference was between an educated and an uneducated man.
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