ACCOMPLISHMENTS
To accomplish something is simply to complete a task, whether it is finishing the dishes or winning the Super Bowl. We accomplish many things each day, most of them mundane and lacking any eternal significance. The real struggle comes in knowing how much we should try to accomplish and dealing with the feelings of frustration and inferiority when we don’t accomplish what we hoped to or when we don’t achieve the level of accomplishments that others do. No awards, no promotions, no great victories-does this mean we have failed? The Bible mentions many physical accomplishments, but it also highlights spiritual accomplishments, which we so often overlook-an active prayer life, Christian maturity, telling a neighbor about your church, a moral victory over temptation, a tender word of encouragement to a child. These are the kinds of accomplishments that need to take priority in our lives.
WE MUST HAVE THE RIGHT PERSPECTIVE ABOUT ACCOMPLISHMENTS.
Ecclesiastes 12:13 . . . Here is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is the duty of every person.
Obeying God is life’s greatest accomplishment.
HOW DO WE MAKE THE MOST OF OUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS?
Ecclesiastes 4:9 . . . Two people can accomplish more than twice as much as one; they get a better return for their labor.
Accomplishments are multiplied through teamwork. It is impossible for one person to play a duet or trio. It is hard to play football or soccer without teamwork. It is hard to have a happy marriage if only one mate works at it. How encouraging to note that two people can actually do more than twice as much as one, as long as they are pulling in the same direction.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS COME WITH GOOD PLANNING.
Isaiah 25:1 . . . O Lord, I will honor and praise your name, for you are my God. You do such wonderful things! You planned them long ago, and now you have accomplished them.
God planned before he accomplished, a good model for us to follow.
IS ACCOMPLISHMENT JUST THE FRUIT OF HARD WORK, OR IS THERE SOMETHING ELSE TO IT?
Romans 1:17 . . . This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”
Getting ready for heaven, preparing for eternity in God’s heavenly home, is not accomplished by any work we do but simply by faith, believing that Jesus Christ died for our sins so that we wouldn’t have to. Salvation, this greatest of accomplishments, is not the work of our hands, but the work of God in our hearts.
IS IT WRONG TO BE PROUD OF OUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS?
1 Corinthians 4:7 . . . What makes you better than anyone else? What do you have that God hasn’t given you? And if all you have is from God, why boast as though you have accomplished something on your own?
There is a healthy satisfaction of accomplishment that includes thanksgiving to God for what he has done through us. But it is arrogance to think the deed was done all by ourselves.
WHAT IS OUR GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT? HOW DO WE ACHIEVE IT?
Romans 1:17 . . . This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”
Salvation, the greatest of accomplishments, is not the work of our hands, but the work of God in our hearts.
Ecclesiastes 12:13 . . . Here is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is the duty of every person.
Obeying God is life’s greatest accomplishment.
HOW CAN I DO A BETTER JOB OF ACCOMPLISHING THINGS?
Isaiah 25:1 . . . O Lord, I will honor and praise your name, for you are my God. You do such wonderful things! You planned them long ago, and now you have accomplished them.
Accomplishments come with good planning. God planned before he accomplished, a good model for us to follow.
PROMISE FROM GOD:
Psalm 60:12 . . . With God’s help we will do mighty things.