5 Success Traits We Inherit From Our Heavenly Father

God’s plan for us humans is that we be like him. He not only created us in His image (Genesis 1:27), but He gives His spirit to His children, allowing us to think His thoughts and feel His feelings. Being a child of God means that we effectively inherit His traits, much like our own children inherit our traits.

Think of it: if we have God’s attributes in our lives, we are bound to be successful people.

Although I list only five such traits, I am sure there are many, many others. Please share any additional ones you think of in the “comments” section.

Here are my five:

1. Diligence

God, of course, is diligent – he created the world in six days and never broke sweat. His children should likewise be diligent. We are told to “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.” (Colossians 3:23) We do not work for an hourly wage, nor do we work to keep a job or to satisfy our own consciences; our challenge is to work for the Lord himself. A Christian therefore knows that “good enough” is never good enough; only our very best work effort will suffice. This being said, the worker who works to please the Lord is the one who will be recognized and therefore the one who will get those promotions. He will succeed.

2. Creativity

God’s first action was creative. The first sentence in the bible says, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth”. He visualized every detail of the universe and spoke it into being. If that isn’t creativity I don’t know what is. As his children, we too have great potential for creativity.

All of the following were Christians:

• Galileo Galilei, the first astronomer to use the telescope in his research, discovered craters in the moon, moons orbiting Jupiter and the phases of Venus.

• Blaise Pascal pioneered the laws of probability and invented early calculating machines, the syringe and the hydraulic press.

• Isaac Newton, among many accomplishments, discovered the law of gravity and the invention of calculus.

• George Washington Carver’s research on peanuts resulted in more than 300 by-products while his research on sweet potatoes resulted in over 100 by-products.

• Louis Pasteur’s research on bacteria led to the process of pasteurization sterilization and the development of numerous vaccines.

What does creativity have to do with success? Simply that creative people think outside the box and are therefore better able to achieve the desired outcome.

3. A can-do mindset

God has never had a negative thought. He has never doubted his own abilities and has never been paralyzed by fear of the unknown. He never makes excuses and he always finishes what he starts. As his children, we should be willing to take on the difficult, to venture into the unknown and to boldly live on the edge. Success awaits those who do.

4. Honesty

Jesus claimed to be “the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6). He was not simply truthful; he WAS truth.

Thomas J. Stanley, in his classic work, “The Millionaire Mind”, determined that the number one success factor for millionaires (according to actual millionaires surveyed) is “being honest with all people”. Does Stanley’s study validate that honesty (an inherent trait of God) really is the best policy? It certainly seems so.

5. Generosity

God is a giver. He created the world for us and, when we made a mess of things, he gave up his beloved son as payment for our misdeeds. The characteristic of generosity is the very culmination of success. Why? Because, pragmatically speaking, we can only be generous when we have goods, time or talent to be generous with. Jesus taught: “Give, and you will receive. … The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.” (Luke 6:38) Clearly, the more generous we are, the more God helps us succeed so we can be even more generous.

Closing thoughts
Because our heavenly father is diligent, creative, can-do, honest and generous, his children should inherit those same traits. This being said, the more time we spend with our earthly father, the more we will be like him. Do you want to succeed? You can do it. How? By spending time with a father who loves you and wants to spend time with you.

Sounds like success to me.

Readers: what other success traits do we inherit from our heavenly Father?

Note: this post is modified from a staff post I wrote for Christian PF