{"id":1936,"date":"2013-02-11T02:08:00","date_gmt":"2013-02-11T00:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/?p=1936"},"modified":"2013-02-11T02:08:00","modified_gmt":"2013-02-11T00:08:00","slug":"3-dangers-of-success-and-how-to-avoid-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/3-dangers-of-success-and-how-to-avoid-them\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Dangers of Success and How to Avoid Them"},"content":{"rendered":"<p dir=\"ltr\">We often don&#8217;t think about it but success can be more <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gospelrenewal.com\/blog\/2012\/01\/the-dangers-of-success\/\" target=\"_blank\">dangerous than failure<\/a>. \u00a0It&#8217;s during the times when life seems to be humming along at a perfect rate and everything is going just grand that we are most likely to fall.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"1937\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/3-dangers-of-success-and-how-to-avoid-them\/100_6538\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/100_6538.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"640,361\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;4.4&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;Picasa&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;KODAK V610 DUAL LENS DIGITAL CAMERA&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1287685835&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;18.9&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;64&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.00625&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"100_6538\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/100_6538.jpg\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1937 alignnone\" alt=\"100_6538\" src=\"http:\/\/69.89.31.195\/~sukofami\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/100_6538.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"361\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/100_6538.jpg 640w, https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/100_6538-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/100_6538-460x260.jpg 460w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Success brings along with it three dangers.<\/p>\n<h4 dir=\"ltr\">Pride<\/h4>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Success always brings with it the temptation to think that we did it all on our own. \u00a0Nebuchadnezzar fell into this same trap when he looked out over the great city of\u00a0Babylon\u00a0and attributed its success to his own abilities. Then he went crazy and spent the next seven years acting like a wild animal!\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/bible.us\/111\/dan.4.30-37.niv\" target=\"_blank\">(Daniel 4:30-37)<\/a><\/p>\n<h4 dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-size: 1em;\">Comfort<\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/h4>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Financial success usually brings a level comfort which inclines us to relax and take it easy. The problem is that when we stop doing the work God has called us to do sin has a much easier time finding a spot in our lives. That&#8217;s what happened to King David. Instead of going to war with his men he decided to relax and it didn&#8217;t take long before he gave in to temptation. \u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/bible.us\/111\/2sa.11.1-5.niv\" target=\"_blank\">(2 Samuel 11:1-5)<\/a><\/p>\n<h4>Forgetfulness<\/h4>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Let&#8217;s face it, we are forgetful people. Before he died Moses warned the people not to forget the God who brought them out of Egypt. Moses knew that once the people were in the land and had everything they needed it would be easy to forget. Unfortunately that&#8217;s exactly what happened.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/bible.us\/111\/jdg.2.7-12,19.niv\" target=\"_blank\">(Judges 2:7-12)<\/a><\/p>\n<p><b><b>Redefining success<br \/>\n<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n<p>Maybe one of the reasons success is so dangerous is because we have a wrong definition about what it really is.<\/p>\n<p>Our society tells us that in order to be successful you need to be:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Rich<\/li>\n<li>Famous<\/li>\n<li>Powerful<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In contrast God defines success a little differently. According to the Bible success is about being:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A steward<\/li>\n<li>Humble<\/li>\n<li>A servant<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4 dir=\"ltr\">What can you do to avoid the dangers of success?<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Acknowledge that all good things ultimately come from God, not from you.<\/li>\n<li>Verbally thank God for your \u00a0success.<\/li>\n<li>Point out to others that God is the reason for your success.<\/li>\n<li>Recognize that you need God just as much (or more) in your success as you do in your failures.<\/li>\n<li>Establish daily habits of prayer and meditation on God&#8217;s Word as reminders of what true success is.<\/li>\n<li>Imagine what your life would be like without God.<\/li>\n<li>Tell your faith story to others and focus on what God did in your life.<\/li>\n<li>Be thankful for things beyond your personal success like family, church, salvation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Questions: How do you define success? What other dangers of success have you noticed. What do you do to avoid the dangers of success?<\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p dir=\"ltr\">We often don&#8217;t think about it but success can be more <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gospelrenewal.com\/blog\/2012\/01\/the-dangers-of-success\/\" target=\"_blank\">dangerous than failure<\/a>. \u00a0It&#8217;s during the times when life seems to be humming along at a perfect rate and everything is going just grand that we are most likely to fall.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1937,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[31],"tags":[273,271,272],"class_list":["post-1936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-writing","tag-humility","tag-pride","tag-success"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/100_6538.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3izZc-ve","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2153,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/pray-for-skiniya-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":1936,"position":0},"title":"Pray for Skiniya Church","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"January 20, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Today we had the privilege of visiting Skiniya (Tabernacle) Church. This group of Jesus followers meets in a Christian bookstore in downtown Odessa. This church is a sister church to ours as both were started by Peter Rodoslavov.\u00a0 We always enjoy visiting because of the close fellowship we share with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Ministry&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Ministry","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/ministry\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/DSC02655.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/DSC02655.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/DSC02655.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9607,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/successful-church-plants-that-look-like-venture-start-ups\/","url_meta":{"origin":1936,"position":1},"title":"Successful Church Plants that Look Like Venture Start-ups","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"August 14, 2018","format":"audio","excerpt":"Could it be that successful church planting is really nothing more than good marketing, knowing your demographic, and selling the faith to those you know will listen? In this episode of the \"Now Is the Time\" I share with you an interesting podcast that looks as church planting from a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;The Gospel Today&quot;","block_context":{"text":"The Gospel Today","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/podcast\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/rawpixel-620230-unsplash.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/rawpixel-620230-unsplash.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/rawpixel-620230-unsplash.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/rawpixel-620230-unsplash.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/rawpixel-620230-unsplash.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9711,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/2-more-reasons-youre-not-getting-anything-from-the-sermon\/","url_meta":{"origin":1936,"position":2},"title":"2 More Reasons You&#8217;re Not Getting Anything From the Sermon","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"September 26, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"You have spiritual pride One of the first symptoms of spiritual pride is the dismissal of true Biblical teaching.\u00a0 Pride clogs our spiritual ear canals with a waxy mess of arrogance, distain, and conceit. Note: This is part two, you can read part one here. Pride tells me the sermon\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Writing&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Writing","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Preaching-01.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Preaching-01.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Preaching-01.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Preaching-01.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Preaching-01.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Preaching-01.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7383,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/ukrainian-christmas-outreach\/","url_meta":{"origin":1936,"position":3},"title":"Ukrainian Christmas Outreach","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"January 9, 2017","format":"video","excerpt":"A blizzard hit Ukraine just a couple of days before we planned a big outreach for the community. Sunday, January 8th is the day after Christmas here and it is when we planned a large Christmas festival in our church yard. Two days earlier on Friday the snow storm moved\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Ministry&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Ministry","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/ministry\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/DSC06647-1024x681.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/DSC06647-1024x681.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/DSC06647-1024x681.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/DSC06647-1024x681.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/DSC06647-1024x681.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5935,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/64-discouragement-and-depression-in-the-ministry-13-ways-to-overcome\/","url_meta":{"origin":1936,"position":4},"title":"#64 Discouragement and Depression in the Ministry -13 Ways to Overcome","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"October 29, 2015","format":"audio","excerpt":"If you haven't experienced discouragement in ministry then you likely haven't experienced ministry. Discouragement and depression often attack with little warning. They heap heavy loads of guilt, hopelessness, and apathy on your shoulders it all but impossible to move forward in ministry. In this episode of Now Is the Time\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;The Gospel Today&quot;","block_context":{"text":"The Gospel Today","link":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/category\/podcast\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Discouragement-in-Ministry.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Discouragement-in-Ministry.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sukofamily.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Discouragement-in-Ministry.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":401,"url":"https:\/\/sukofamily.org\/medical-outreach-in-sahanskoe\/","url_meta":{"origin":1936,"position":5},"title":"Medical Outreach in Sahanskoe","author":"Caleb Suko","date":"May 24, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"May 19th our medical team visited the village of Sahanskoe which is about 2 hours from Odessa. This village has a small house church led by two men, Styopa and Misha. The clinic took place in the house church as an outreach of that local church. 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