A successful life can take on many shapes. There is no one set in stone life path that you can follow and lead to an ideal outcome. Not every person can become the president, a missionary, and or pastor of a mega church. Status, power, or vocation do not contribute to the measurement of a successful life. Life can and should be a unique story for each person, but what makes it successful is how that life plays into the greater story of the Bible. Being a part of the larger story is more of a worldview that contributes to a successful life than a particular event or action.
The career path one chooses may or may not contribute to society with a varying amount of impact. For example, if someone successfully navigates the paths towards political success they are more likely to have met more people and have a larger impact on the masses than someone who chooses to become a welder. Society might view the politician as having lived a more successful life than the welder, but in God’s story both are essential to the story. Success would be measured in how the carried out their vocation. Were they honest and god-fearing or selfish and manipulative? These questions are a better measurement of success than the actual job itself.
Whether a person becomes rich off of their Job is not a indicator of a well lived life either. We are born into this world with nothing and we come away from it with nothing. The view that a job that pays more is more important or that the rich have somehow lived more successfully is a secular view of life. The rich may have a higher status and more stuff, but when they leave this earth that doesn’t matter.
The politician may have met a more diverse group of people and had a very positive impact, but God cares more about the character and heart of the individual. If a person has a lot of relationships that are friendly and happy but devoid of Christian love, that person’s relationships are naught. If there is a firm foundation that is built upon for these friendships, then it is pleasing to God and more likely to last and bring fulfillment to the lives of all involved.
Other important relationships that require a good foundation are those found in a family unit. A person’s choices and decisions for searching for a spouse and the criteria they use in accessing their future partner in life are imperative. The way they bring up their kids the values they instill are what paves the way for more people to live out their part in the larger story. This is not to say that one is required to have a family or even get married. The same method for teaching children, by observation, can be used by a single person to influence those around them.
Ultimately a successful life is not defined by the possessions one acquires or even the number of relationships they formed. It is rather the way they grew as a person and matured by the holy spirit to live by grace and to show it with love. Having a worldview defined by what was done on the cross on your behalf and using that to shape the way to treat others and feel about status or possessions is the best way to live a successful life.