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Key Bible Verse: "Be especially careful when you are trying to be good so that you don't make a performance out of it. It might be good theater, but the God who made you won't be applauding." (Matthew 6:1, The Message) Dig Deeper: Matthew 6:1-6

Why is it that some people feel very successful, even though the world in general may view them as failures, while other people have a deep sense of failure, even though the world may view them as very successful? Campolo suggests: "We consider ourselves to be successful if the most significant people in our lives deem us successful." We may call these very important people "significant others." All of us have one or more significant others, and their view of us makes all the difference.

It is possible to be a prosperous and successful business executive or a talented and acclaimed artist, and yet to have never felt that you have measured up to the expectations of your parents. If they are significant others in your life, widespread recognition and applause from within the business or arts community will not mean nearly as much in terms of your own sense of self-fulfillment as the affirmation of your father and mother. For many of us, our parents, or others in our families of origin, remain very important significant others long after we have left that family unit. For others, it is a spouse or boyfriend or girlfriend who is that crucial significant other. For others, it is work associates and professional peers.

—Steven Roy in What God Thinks When We Fail

My Response: Who do I want to please the most? How does my desire to please this person impact how I view my failures and successes?

Adapted from What God Thinks When We Fail (IVP, 2011) by permission. All rights reserved by the copyright holder and/or the publisher. May not be reproduced.

Copyright © 2013 by Christianity Today/Men of Integrity magazine. Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.

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Prayer for the Week

Father, help me to define success the way you do; remind me that the only opinion that ultimately matters is yours.

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