SUCCESS of the SOUL

Is it worth it to gain status and success, yet only to lose your soul through this process? It may look progressive, but it's actually destructive. You see, progression is thought to be advancement in a certain area of your life; Gaining momentum; Or to develop to a more advanced stage.  For example, we progress in our education as we advance from grade to grade, and degree to degree.  I progressed for sixteen years of schooling and obtained a degree in Business Administration.  Progression?  Personally and eternally, not so much. We progress in our careers from position to position and salary to salary.  “Moving on up” we sing, but again, is it at our souls expense?The world has us believing that progress is chronologically linked with success. Think about it!  “Years involved” in striving to advance only makes one tenured or scholarly or masterly.  But if that next stage of “progression” is the ends to the progressive means, I wonder, is the desire to progress controlling you or are you controlling it?  I do know however, that whatever we choose to serve becomes our master—even progression.With outward success not equaling inward progress, I wonder what is the right type of success and progression? You see, progression can’t mean “chronologically moving forward in success or advancing to another stage of an outward development process.”  Because if so, how then did Jesus rise well above His contemporaries?  How did He progress with His life when it ended up hanging on a cross?  At the time, the progressor’s of theology, royalty, and nobility had ridiculed that He was nothing more than a carpenter, therefore they refused to stop their “progression” and appetite for "succession" to hear Him.  Again, they progressed in the world at their souls expense.  Consider this! Jesus was not schooled, nor did He sit at the feet of great Rabbi’s. He did not climb the corporate ladder, nor did He spend more than three years in His work. Progression then, had nothing to do with advancing chronologically or succeeding materially and everything to do with developing maturity--success of the soul! Thus, no matter how much one may gain in this world, without Christ, they have nothing. And no matter how much one may lose in this world, with Christ, they have everything. True progress.