Holding on Through Failure and Success - Part 2

To think of defeat as being an impostor is easy to accept. But to consider success as an impostor is hard to swallow. Very few people set themselves up to fail because success is a primary objective. However success as well as failure has the power to corrupt. Success can give birth to disregarding the rules for a healthy, godly life.

Success can blind a person to boundaries that were earlier a guiding force in life. Success can create an illusion of being invulnerable to failure. Rudyard Kipling's poem, Rewards and Fairies, regarded success as being an impostor whenever it has the alluring capacity to erase from consciousness the need for God.

The Apostle Paul, speaking to the church at Rome, prayed that God, who gives endurance and encouragement, would create such unity of heart and mind that each believer would give him recognition and praise for all they have, whether a little or in abundance. This attitude sees success or failure from God's perspective.

Resilience: Character Strength for Survival - Part 3

Freudian psychology promotes the pain and pleasure principle. Freud developed this theory from his observation of people who tend to avoid suffering and pain by seeking pleasure and comfort. The world's economy is geared toward promising happiness and pleasure rather than pain and sorrow.

Pleasure is irresistible when it fits within acceptable boundaries. Within this context the challenge for acquiring pleasure is invigorating. The desire for pleasure kindles a fire that challenges us to take hold of a promising dream by activating our best mental and physical assets. The desire for pleasure drives us to conquer suffering and pain by using every source available.

It takes resilience to conquer all obstructions that prevent us from securing  peace and joy. Resilience, that inner, God-given strength, resists defeat and any pain associated with it. Like Jesus, the Apostle Paul, and countless others, each of us is commissioned to press on toward the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. This alone brings peace and internal satisfaction.