True success is a consequence of not getting what I want

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My definition of success has always been getting what I want, this is the same logic I used to justify my respect for suicide bombers. While I did not justify their actions, I respected their commitment to their cause to a point of giving up their lives to achieve what they want. I once joked that South Africa would have achieved liberation sooner if we had suicide bombers in our midst fighting the apartheid government.

I respected suicide bombers because they had done something I was not willing to do, I was not willing to do anything that will require a commitment to death. I was just not that brave. So imagine my surprise when I learnt that to be successful as a Christian I am required to commit to the death of something in my life?

Living Sacrifice

My personal desires are by default hostile to the unseen realm which is reigned over by Jesus Christ ( the Kingdom of God), to successfully explore this realm I have to commit to the death of my personal desires. When I choose death to my personal desire for the sake of the Kingdom of God I am making myself a living sacrifice, this is a physical act that has implications both in the unseen and the seen realm

In the unseen realm
  • It sets me apart for the purposes of the Kingdom of God
  • It readies me to fulfill the mission of the Kingdom of God on the earth
  • It enables a clean up to get me ready for service in the Kingdom of God
In the seen realm
  • It positions me to put on display the glory of God ( of the Bible)
  • It enables me to provoke others towards God (of the Bible)
  • It positions me to be rewarded by God (of the Bible).
Unlike in the case of suicide bombers being a living sacrifice means I let go of what I want so that it can be replaced with what God (of the Bible) wants for my life.I have learnt to let go of my definition of success to embrace God’s definition of success by being thankful even when I am not getting what I want.

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