Success, in God's eyes, is measured by how submissive a person is to His will. That's one of the things that separates a truly successful person from someone who only looks successful.

In this series on success, I keep coming back to Jesus, because He's the perfect example. He lived here on earth, went through everything any human being goes through, and He overcame. So if we want to know what success looks like, we look at Him.

Jesus in the Garden

In Luke 22, Jesus is about to go to the cross. He can see the pain in front of Him. Worse than the pain, He can see the separation from the Father, which is the most painful thing of all. That's the state of a condemned person: total disconnection from God, a complete absence of His presence.

None of that looked good to Jesus. And yet, in the end, He chose to submit:

"Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done" (Luke 22:42).

That wasn't a one-off. Jesus lived like that. He said, "The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do" (John 5:19). Total submission to the will of God.

This is one of the reasons Jesus is, and will always be, the most successful person in history. You can point to other successful people, but nobody can beat His record. He's the most talked-about person who ever lived. Even people who don't believe in Him argue about Him. We date history around Him, BC and AD. Every December, much of the world celebrates a holiday that, whatever people call it now, began as a celebration of His birth.

His success came from surrender, not from grabbing.

Success in Spirit, Soul and Body

If you've followed my teachings, you know that man is three in one: a spirit, a soul and a body. This is foundational. Understanding how the three work together will shape your success as a Christian. Everything you need for faith is already in your spirit. When we don't see results, the problem is usually in the mind, not the spirit.

Christianity is all about the finished work of Jesus. It's written in the past tense. By His stripes we were healed. His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). It's done.

So when we talk about submitting to God's will, we look at it from all three angles.

1. Submission in Your Spirit

True success starts with giving your heart to Christ. A person who hasn't had the fallen, Adamic spirit replaced by a new spirit from God can't be called successful, because they don't have eternal life. Everything they build will crumble here on earth, and that will be the end of it.

Jesus said, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). And Scripture is clear: "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).

Then there's the question Jesus asked: "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Mark 8:36).

You can run the biggest company in the world. You can be a brilliant singer, a gifted designer, a respected professional. That's success in areas that sit between the mind and the body. But if your spirit hasn't been made new, the most important box is still empty.

God wants all three boxes ticked. And if you are born again, don't stop there. Work on your mind, and be excellent at whatever you do, whether that's your career, your business or your gift. God isn't asking for something you can't do. He has already provided everything you need.

2. Submission in Your Soul and Mind

The soul is where our feelings live, and the mind is our thinking faculty. They're closely linked, so I treat them together. Here's what submission looks like there.

Humility before the Word. "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up" (James 4:10). A successful person has bowed before God and before His Word.

Accepting correction. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16). Some people go to church but keep a wall between their faith and their daily life. I once heard someone say, in effect, "As a religious person I believe this is sin, but as a professional I don't." That doesn't make sense.

Your faith isn't a decoration sitting uselessly somewhere in your heart. Everyone has a worldview, even people who say they have no religion. As a Christian, the Word of God should shape yours. So when Scripture calls something wrong, whether it's about money, relationships or sexuality, you bow to it, even when everyone around you is going the other way.

And here's the beautiful part: God corrects us without condemning us. He does it in love, the way a father corrects a son he adores.

Ruling your feelings. Self-control, or temperance, is part of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22–23). Your emotions are real, but they don't get to be in charge.

Bringing every thought to Christ. We are called to be "casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5).

Thoughts will come. You can't always stop that. But you decide which ones stay. Every opinion you hold has to line up with what God has said.

Here's an example. Some people believe God uses sickness to discipline His children, to "break" them. That thought doesn't bow to the obedience of Christ. Jesus bore our sickness and pain in His body. Sickness is a fruit of sin; it's death in motion. And "the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death" (Romans 8:2). Jesus put those things in the grave. God isn't going to dig them back up to teach you a lesson. A house divided against itself cannot stand.

3. Submission in Your Body: Taming the Tongue

Scripture says, "If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body" (James 3:2). Taming the tongue is a mark of real success.

That works in two directions. First, what do you say to the people around you? Are your words gracious? Second, what do you say about yourself? "I'm finished." "It's over." "I can't make it." When we speak those things, we activate them and make them more real than they were.

There's a difference between a thought passing through and a thought you sit with. When you accept a thought and start turning it over, it becomes meditation. When you speak it out, you give it wings.

Words are real. They carry energy. Jesus said, "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life" (John 6:63). Everything was made by the Word of God, and that's why creation responds to words. Jesus spoke to the wind, and it obeyed. He spoke to a tree, and it listened.

So your words matter, and Jesus warned that "every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment" (Matthew 12:36).

A Practical Takeaway

This week, run your life through the same three questions:

• Spirit: Have I truly given my heart to Christ? If not, today is the day.
• Soul: Is there an area where I've been resisting the Word's correction? Bow to it, and let God lift you up.
• Tongue: What have I been saying over my own life? Replace "I'm finished" with what God says about you.

The world says success is what you gain. Jesus showed us that real success is what you surrender. Like Him, let's learn to say, "Not my will, but Thine."

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God bless you,
Michael Adegoke