The True Way To Prosper And Live A Successful Life As A Christian

Goodnews! God wants you to be successful and prosper materially in Christ
(3Jn 1:2) Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy
soul prospereth.
Even more than our earthly fathers, God cares about our whole being. He doesn’t just want us to be sound spiritually, He wants us to have healthy bodies and prosper financially also.
I know there are lots of people out there who are trying to make it look like the only thing God cares
about is your spiritual life as a Christian. The way it is put, you would think that having a desire for the good life (a life of prosperity and abundance) is a sin
in God’s eyes. However the Bible tells us a different thing altogether.
(Psa 35:27) Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them
say continually, Let the LORD be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.
God takes pleasure in the prosperity of His children. It
gladdens His heart to see you prosper.
In a bid to warn the brethren against greed and the
love of money, we most times cross the line and
warn them against having money and make being
rich appear the same as being unrighteous.
While it is true that some of the believers in the Bible
were poor and may have even died that way, there
is no denial that there were those who also
prospered abundantly even after they have trusted in
God for salvation. For instance Abraham:
(Gen 15:6) And he believed in the LORD; and he
counted it to him for righteousness.
(Gen 15:7) And he said unto him, I am the LORD
that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to
give thee this land to inherit it.
(Gen 24:35) And the LORD hath blessed my
master greatly; and he is become great: and he
hath given him flocks, and herds, and silver, and
gold, and menservants, and maidservants, and
camels, and asses.
I singled out the case of Abraham because of his
significance to our faith. But there were others also
who prospered before and after their salvation as
believers.
Material prosperity does not always mean one would
be stinkingly rich. But it surely means you would
always have enough to meet your needs and that of
those around you. Your name may or may not
appear on Forbes list of richest people in the world
but whenever there is a need, you wouldn’t have to
sell a kidney to meet that need. That is the Bible’s
description of material prosperity. Not a life that is
constantly in lack, debts and penury.
One can be rich and yet righteous same way he can
be poor, wicked and very ungodly. Being rich or poor
has nothing to do with righteousness or holiness. It’s
just a matter of choice.
I have seen people genuinely serve God to the best
of their abilities when they were poor and still
maintained that in the midst of abundance. Never
accept poverty as God’s ultimate method to keep you
humble, holy and righteous.
So how do you achieve success in life as a
believer especially in this dispensation of Grace?
When it comes to achieving material prosperity or
success in any endeavour as believers, the Bible’s laid
down pattern or process for getting that is works
through grace. You can call that a grace empowered
labour or labour working by grace.
It is not just by grace alone (without any form of
your effort as in salvation) or purely by works (as in
your personal labour alone). It is actually by Grace
through labour. The two are so interwoven you can’t
separate one from the other.
Before you get mad at me for even mentioning the
words “works” and “labour” with regards to our
achieving success in life, let me show you something
real quick from the scriptures.
(1Co 15:10) But by the grace of God I am what I
am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me
was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly
than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God
which was with me.
(2Co 11:23) Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak
as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in
stripes above measure, in prisons more
frequent, in deaths oft.
Now if you paid real attention to those verses above,
you’d discover Paul in talking about his success in
ministry and how he achieved it, never ceased to
mention how he by God’s grace laboured abundantly
for it.
He never credited it to his efforts or labours alone,
neither did he also credit it only to God’s grace
(without any effort from him). He always put the two
in their right perspectives.
You know the common misconception people have
about grace and works (labour) is that they are
complete opposites of each other. It is not always
true.
The only time grace is completely devoid of works in
the scriptures, is with regards to salvation. After
salvation, grace empowers you to labour and achieve
success in whatever field you want. That is what Paul
meant in those verses above by saying that Grace
was working in him causing him to labour more
abundantly than the others. It empowers you to
work diligently while you are on the earth.
That is also why in heaven, we will be rewarded not
for the grace that we received freely from God but
for the labour and work we personally did with it.
(2Co 5: We are confident, I say, and willing rather
to be absent from the body, and to be present
with the Lord.
(2Co 5:9) Wherefore we labour, that, whether
present or absent, we may be accepted of him.
(2Co 5:10) For we must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ; that every one may
receive the things done in his body, according to
that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
Now when we talk about being successful in our
ministries, businesses and careers, we don’t become
passive claiming we are leaving everything to grace.
Yes, God’s grace will take care of that but it is going
to do it through you.
So if you are not actively involved in the work to
bring the big picture God has placed within your heart
to manifestation while trusting in His grace, you
make the grace of God a vain thing. The same way
you give work too much credit if you claim success
and material prosperity is all by one’s efforts alone.
That means in aiming for success or material
prosperity in life, one would need to work as though
grace never exists, and as well trust in God’s grace as
though there is no such a thing called labour.
God’s grace has empowered us to prosper materially
and be successful in whatever field we may find
ourselves. In co-operation with that grace, we work
hard and smart, bringing to materialization that
prosperity and all round success.
I hope this blesses you.
Glory to God!

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