Climbing the Ladder of Life

As a college student, my desire was to make my first million by age thirty, and retire by age 40…so much for that goal!

In order to accomplish my dream, I planned to become an institutional investor. An institutional investor simply manages other people’s money in the securities markets. Therefore, when I had the opportunity to hear a prominent investor give a lecture, I immediately jumped at the chance!

Surprisingly, I only remember one thing about the night that I attended his talk. This well-known investor shared stories about the time he spent climbing the ladder of corporate success. He told grueling tales of how he strategically, rung by rung, toiled away at success, only to find as he reached the top, that the ladder was leaning against the wrong building. I was shocked!

Here was a man that I aspired to be like, yet he was telling me he spent most of his career pursuing an illusion of value. What was worse, he only realized that all of his effort and pursuit was futile after he reached what he had been working his whole life for.  

This incident caused me to think about the difference between what seems valuable in life, but is actually worthless, and what is actually of value. Is it even possible to devote your entire life to pursuing something, and be certain that in the end you will look back and know that it was time well spent?

In reality, there is only one thing worth seeking and straining towards for such a long period of time: spiritual growth. Your spiritual growth is one of the few things in life that actually has value. In fact, it has eternal value. There is no illusion to the value of spiritual growth. In the end, you won’t be disappointed: it is worth all your effort, and it will live up to–and beyond–your expectations.

In its simplest terms, spiritual growth is drawing closer to God through Jesus Christ.  Ultimately, the reward in spiritual growth comes from experiencing this relationship. Unfortunately, before this type of reward can be acquired, the pursuit of spiritual growth must be the utmost, all-encompassing thing in your life. It must be prioritized before all else–without exception. No one else can create spiritual growth for you, because only you can answer the question: Is achieving spiritual growth the most important thing in your life?