“You must first be a believer if you would be an achiever.”
That statement should raise a couple of questions in our minds upon the initial reading of it. What is meant by a “believer”? And what is meant by an “achiever”?
To many, a believer is someone who believes very strongly in him or herself. They seem to be the arbiters of their own destiny. And an achiever, to many, is someone who takes that extreme confidence in self and lets it drive their thoughts and actions to the top spot in whatever their endeavor might be.
The message is clear. Believe powerfully in yourself if you want to achieve number one status within business, your family or among your associates. But is this sort of belief and achievement lasting?
History proves this popular narrative false. Consider the case of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. The setting is in the royal palace of Babylon where the king was walking about and admiring its grandeur. “The king spoke, saying, ‘Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?’ While the word was still in the king’s mouth, a voice fell from heaven: ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: the kingdom has departed from you!’” (Daniel 4:30-31). All the achievements Nebuchadnezzar attributed to himself vanished when God took them away. God then gave him seven years of insanity because he had refused to repent of his pride.
At the end of the seven years, after repentance, the king came to a sound conclusion. “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and His ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to put down” (Daniel 4:37). Nebuchadnezzar’s account plainly illustrates that any lasting achievement must come from a humble belief in God.
The proud are in need of strength from a source other than self. The Apostle Paul explains, “For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man” (Ephesians 3:14–16). True achievement comes by faith from a heart or mind that receives God’s own strength through His Spirit. In such a case, the apostle says. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).
“You must first be a believer if you would be an achiever.”
Marshall Stiver
