Accomplishments Are Meaningless Unless For The Lord’s Eternal Glory

Word-of-the-Day: ‘(3) Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, (4) not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. (5) In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.’ (Philippians 2:3-5)

We all have our moments of being on ‘top of the world’, where we perhaps have done a great achievement or accomplished a formidable task that makes us feel really good about ourselves.  In my previous endeavors, I did some of these things that brought me, within my circle of peers, a level of recognition and reward that while deserved, also made me at that time, before Christ, to be full of myself.

All of us should aspire to do our best, and to achieve high goals while setting high standards for performance and accomplishment.  The danger of this is when we actually meet those high goals standards and achieve those levels of performance and accomplishments, and we see that other people notice, and sing our praises.  It can act like a drug; we start enjoying the attention and craving the accolades, and we steer ourselves toward that while putting aside what is more important and necessary to live a healthy and neutral life.

Having selfish ambition crowds out those around us, and we lose humility – at least until something occurs that cause us to regain that healthy perspective.  For some, it can be a health scare or a financial downturn; or a ‘fall from grace’ as those who lauded your achievements are now loudly calling for your downfall. 

For me, it was the Lord slowly calling me to Him, to remind me that I had more important needs to take care of; a wife and two children, and a home to manage.  It was the closure of the workplace and a layoff for me to fully understand that events and opportunities are often temporary and fleeting, and that in the end, the only thing left is God, my Faith, and my family.

I realized that the material items and the money I made was transient, and that accomplishments are ethereal and evaporate quickly.  Later, in my work as a government contractor leading a team of IT support staffers during the Global War on Terrorism in the 2000’s, though I still had the aspiration to do my best, to set and achieve high goals of performance and accomplishments for myself and my team members, which I believe we did do, it was tempered by the Lord and the knowledge that the Lord and my family had to come first. 

The outlook was much improved, and as others without this outlook were crushed by the winding down and the end of the major efforts of the US military in the Middle East, I had understood that there was more beyond this.  I knew that any accomplishments, like my previous accomplishments prior to this, would fade away and be forgotten, or painted over as new accomplishments done by others would cover those of myself and my teammates.

Solomon states that life is ‘meaningless’ in Ecclesiastes, and to a degree is describing this cyclic observation of life; what one generation does the next generation builds upon and covers up what was done before.  What was critical and laudable to do before is no longer as important as to what is being done now.  Nothing man does stays important if it is done for the sake of physical accomplishment.  What was done for the past has been superseded for what needs to be done for today and to set up the future.

The one thing that is not meaningless, the accomplishment that is not temporary but eternal that we all have available to us is our witness and testimony of our Lord, Jesus Christ.  The sharing of the Lord, accomplishing the goal of the Great Commission to provide the Gospel of Jesus’ Grace and Salvation to a world in need of a Savior, cannot be done in selfish ambition but in humility and service to Him and to others.  It is in the interests of others, sometimes not necessarily to my benefit, to share Jesus with those who may need to hear the Good News, though they may not yet be ready to receive it.

Yet, we do this in the love of our neighbors, who are all those around us.  It is placing ourselves in a position that only brings me Joy in serving the Lord, not seeking personal gain but to increase Him and His Kingdom.  Only this can bring an accomplishment that is not fleeting but eternal.  I now know and understand that my aspirations should be to do those things that glorify Him and increase His presence in others.

If we build our aspirations and accomplishments to perform our best to serve Him, it may not bring earthly fame or praise, but it will bring an eternal blessing knowing that others came into the family of Christ because of your work in His name.