“Success breeds success” is a familiar saying. It relates to growing in our faith in God. When past experiences with God and meaningful events are cherished, they become a fertile field for new growth opportunities. It is easier to choose God over choices that are less than God when we live in the positive presence of those previous choices. The purpose of cherishing these past events is not to brag or to see ourselves as better than other people. It is not to keep score in the hopes of winning some future status with God. Its purpose is to remind us how good it felt in the past when we made the hard choice for God rather than the easy choice for something less than God. For two-universe Christians that means placing the value of their second universe on a level above the values in this universe. For one-universe Christians it means giving the highest values we can imagine in this universe the highest priority over all lesser values. False modesty does not contribute to our growth. We all have placed our “God” by whatever definition over choices that are less than God. We should congratulate ourselves for those times we have done it and also acknowledge the times we have fallen short. When we focus on those good choices as an ongoing celebration, we keep our successes in the forefront of our consciousness. As new choices confront us, our previous cherished successes help support us and define who we want to be. It is then that “success breeds success” and we continue growing in our faith in God.
