Graduation Sermon: How to Succeed

Text: Proverbs 3:5-6

5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Introduction

Probably many of our students are confused especially in this particular moment of their lives. Questions arises in the heart of our students like; what college course will I take?; what life do I want in the future?; how will I become like it?'

In this sermon, we will be talking primarily on the formula to success. But let us define first what is success and then go to how we can achieve it.

What is Success?

According to some:

Success is the completion of everything intended.

Success is achieving your goal.

Success is reaching your dreams.

But here's my personal definition of success and I do hope that you will also agree with me:

“Success is the sense of fulfillment in the completion of everything intended.”

It is the sense of fulfillment in achieving your goals and dreams. Having a sense of fulfillment is enjoying your accomplishments, being satisfied and wanting nothing more.

There are indeed many definitions of success. And perhaps, we are thinking right now that some of us are already successful. We might be thinking that we are now free from our teachers, exams, pop up quizes and everything about school. But for all we know this is only the beginning.

Some of us are now dreaming to become doctors, engineers, nurse, med tech, lawyer, dentist, physical therapist, mathematician, etc,. But how can we ever achieve true success? The book of Proverbs teaches us a formula in achieving success.

Special Formula

Trust in the Lord + Submit to The Lord + Acknowledge the Lord = Path Straight

Trust in the Lord

We have to trust God. Let us trust God that he will be the one who will help us to achieve our goals. Trusting him means depending on him, as if without Him we can do nothing.

This is the reason why we need to pray before taking the exam. In this way, we can show to God that we trust him by asking help from him.

In trusting him, it means believing that he can give us what we want. Trusting him means not trusting another one. Trusting is not choosing an alternative. Trusting God is giving our very hope up to him.

Lean not with your understanding

Submissionn to the Lord is very important. This is in connection to our trust in God. We will not rely on ourselves, instead we are to rely on God.

Leaning not with our understanding means allowing God to let us know what he wants us to know. He knows better than us. He knows what's best for us. Leaning in our own understanding usually leads us to failure.

Acknowledge Him

If we are not to rely in our own understanding, then to whom should we rely? Obviously, to God. And part of that reliance is consulting Him about his will. In the decisions we make, we have to consider God's will. It simply means consulting God in things that we do. It has to be in accordance to his will.

Conclusion

The formula is very simple. And as we try to look deeper, success is not all about us, its all about God.