Success and failure

Sunday I preached about how failure can be an opportunity. Too often we push being successful and how we define success ranging from making good grades, scoring high on the SAT, how much money or goods we possess, etc. While those are sometimes needed, I feel that it is more important as to what goes on within a person rather than what others would judge. I talked about how Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison would have been seen by the typical school judgments of what is successful. Neither one did particularly well in school and yet both were geniuses in what they accomplished. I quoted from both men. I wanted to include them here. Quotes on success:
Thomas Edison: I have not failed. I’ve found 10,000 ways that won’t work. I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward.
Albert Einstein: Try not to become a person of success but rather try to become a person of value.

I must of touched upon several people as there were many stories and accounts about how others had been judged as to their worth usually negatively and how they were able to overcome that labeling and become successful. What seemed to be true was not only did they become successful but they also had an integrity about them. I believe that is what Jesus calls us to be. More concerned about the integrity and relationship we have with God and our neighbor than being so concerned about living up to expectations of the world. I personally would rather be a person of value, faithful to Jesus and God, than to be so concerned about what car I drive, what house I live in, and how much I earn. I would wonder what type of world we would live in if we all adapted the idea of being of value to God's creation. Not only we being a person of value but treating others as if they were of value also.