Description:

Success is a critical issue for a man, unless he has already given up. In this lesson, we will focus on what is real and lasting success and discuss business / professional success and its spiritual relevance.

Message from Marsh: “Blessings on each man who considers the outcome of this lesson, for to understand what real success is can open your life to new possibilities.”

Marsh

Founder/President

Thank you for coming to: mensgroup.org

CRITICAL ISSUES for Men

Lesson 1 – Success

(www.mensgroup.org – “Original Study”)

PRAY: A suggested opening prayer for small group members or individuals to invite God to connect as we seek Him in his Word. Feel free to add your own words, “in prayer.”

Lord, we ask that you open our minds beyond our circumstances to a new understanding of what is real success. Guide us to truths that will enhance and strengthen our life and direct us forward in action that will match up with these truths.

OPENING QUESTIONS:

1. How is success measured in our culture?

2. In what ways have you accomplished success?

SCRIPTURE PASSAGE:

David said to Saul, Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him. Saul replied, You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth. But David said to Saul, Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of the Philistine (1 Samuel 17:32-37).

LESSON:

David’s father told him to take food to his three brothers who were a part of the Israelite army fighting against the Philistines. When David arrived, Goliath, a Philistine champion, was already in the valley between the two armies offering to fight any Israelite soldier, and whoever lost would sentence their nation to slavery under the other. Why cause much death among both armies when we could settle this through one fight between two warriors?

Goliath was a physical brute at nearly ten-feet tall. His armor was huge, as was his spear. He was confident that he could be successful in battle due to his rigorous preparation, physical strength, and offensive abilities. He offered this same challenge for forty days, morning and evening, but no Israelite soldier stepped forward. As they listened to him each day, they became discouraged and fearful because they only considered his size. They were defeated in their hearts by their own fear.

When David volunteered to kill Goliath, King Saul saw him as a child who was weak, boastful, inexperienced, and unequipped. He went so far as to offer his own armor to David but he refused it, saying he was not used to it (1 Samuel 17:39). But David was still resolute.

Here we see two different illustrations of success. The intimidating physical status that Goliath presented, and David’s internal belief, fostered by previous experiences of killing a lion and bear, and his understanding of God based on his growing relationship with Him.

Personal success is defined as you achieving forward progress. It is evaluated based on you, not on how you do in comparison with others. It is not measured by who you are, but by what you are compared to what you could be. It is not a matter of achieving certain right things, for those things could be different for each person, but is a matter of being the right person.

Good examples of this are illustrated by how God saw Israel and individuals in Scripture:

Gideon was threshing wheat at the bottom of a winepress to hide the grain from the Midianites. The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, The Lord is with you, mighty warrior (Judges 6:12). God saw him different than he saw himself.
Samuel said to Saul at his anointing as a king, Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king of Israel (1 Samuel 15:17). Consider God’s viewpoint as valid.
Peter’s name was changed by Jesus when he said, You are Simon, son of John. You will be called Cephas or Peter (John 1:42). From the word, petros, which means rock.
Gabriel spoke to Mary, Jesus’ mother, saying, Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you (Luke 1:28). You’re not just a teenage mother to be, you are special to God.
Ananias was told by God to go to Saul when He said, Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel (Acts 9:15). In other words, ignore the way you see Saul now, I see him differently.

Christians seem to be divided, supposing that success and spirituality are not compatible. These supposed irreconcilable differences cause concern for many men who want to succeed but also want to be spiritual. So, can a Christian be successful in business and still maintain his growing spirituality?

There are three different views of success which come out of our Scripture passage:

The common man, Goliath in the passage, views success as overcoming another through brute strength, emotional hardness, and mental acuity. He is self-confident and protective of his own welfare.
The Christian man who believes in success as unattainable because of the fear that he will lose his spirituality if he is successful. He is like the soldiers showing up for battle each day, seeing the successful Goliath and retreating out of fear.
The victorious Christian man exampled by David. He may be immature, inexperienced, and unequipped but knows God encourages success no matter what your age, what you have experienced and how many burdens you bear. God is near to him, has been with him in past struggles, and is confident he can be successful.

Scripture indicates that God desires success for every believer, not based on his lot in life, but based on his success through God’s help. He invites God into every event and submits his whole life to His control.

Paul summed it up well in his writing to the Galatian Christians when he said, Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, for each one should carry their own load (Galatians 6:4-5).

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. What was the basis of David’s success?

2. Which of the three views is your understanding of success?

3. What are your thoughts concerning adjusting your view of success?

APPLICATION:

1. Thinking of your personal experience, when have you accepted the defeated Christian’s view of success?

2. What would you need to do to trust God for your successes?

3. What would be your first action taken to live this way?

CLOSING PRAYER:

Lord, we have lived too long with an improper view of success and we want to change our perspective. We pray that you will be at the center of our success and that we will humbly respect your place in our life.

Suggested Additional Resources:

Lauren Daigle’s sings a powerful song entitled, You Say, which focuses our thoughts not on ourselves but on God’s view of us. This helps us to keep the creep of doubt at bay in our lives. Find it on YouTube at https://youtu.be/sIaT8Jl2zpI and play it for the group.

Continue to Lesson 2 – Close Friendships

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