What Really Matters?

In His Name Devotionals
WHAT REALLY MATTERS?

It’s very easy to lose sight of what really matters in life. Too many of us tend to think that titles, power, and money make all the difference. Some of us would like to have the position in the company, athletic abilities, or looks of someone else. So we often set our life courses accordingly. We accumulate degrees and plaques. We focus on making more money. We starve and sweat to have a trim body.

Don’t get excited. There’s nothing intrinsically evil about any of those things. But are they the main ingredients to a well-spent life? Do they make a lasting difference? Will they have any value for eternity?

Below is a variant on a magazine quiz that helps make the point:

Name the six richest people in the world.

Name the last five Academy Award winners for best actor.

Name the four most recent Heisman Trophy winners.

Name the last three winners of the Miss America pageant.

Name two people who won the Powerball Lottery last year.

Could you answer all five questions? Three? One? Neither could I, but these are the people who are the best of the best or luckiest of the luckiest. Isn’t it surprising how quickly we forget things that seem so important at the time they happen? The applause dies down. Things that seemed so significant at the moment fade from memory and are forgotten.

Now here’s another quiz to consider. See if you do any better on it:

Name six teachers who helped you during your school career.

Name five people with whom you enjoy spending time.

Name four personal heroes whose lives have inspired you.

Name three people who have helped you through a difficulty.

Name two people you can always trust to honor a confidence.

No doubt we all found it easier to generate answers to this set of questions. Why? Obviously the people who really matter in our lives are not the ones with awards and money but the ones with character and compassion. Shouldn’t this insight be instructive to all of us about what to pursue with our lives?

It would be a shame to climb the ladder of success only to find you’ve leaned it against the wrong wall. Remember the late Erma Bombeck? She wrote: “Don’t confuse fame with success. Madonna is one, and Helen Keller is the other.”