The Measure of Success Quotes

“My (Carolyn’s) sister says that as a full-time mother she misses her annual review. Whenever she got her review on the job, she knew exactly how well she was doing against her performance goals. But mothering can be a long stretch of unappreciated labor.”
― Carolyn McCulley, The Measure of Success: Uncovering the Biblical Perspective on Women, Work, and the Home

“What we long for is perfection—in our works and in who we are. This is only possible through Jesus—Jesus lived the perfect life we can’t, paid the penalty for our sins that we can’t, and rose from the dead so that one day we will rise if we trust Him for the gift of eternal life. What needs to be done has already been done!”
― Carolyn McCulley, The Measure of Success: Uncovering the Biblical Perspective on Women, Work, and the Home

“In accepting the culture of consumerism, homes become a monument to personal style and taste, rather than places of service to others.”
― Carolyn McCulley, The Measure of Success: Uncovering the Biblical Perspective on Women, Work, and the Home

“Accomplishment is the psychological reward for hard work. Money is the tangible reward for hard work. Godly influence is the spiritual reward for hard work.”
― Carolyn McCulley, The Measure of Success: Uncovering the Biblical Perspective on Women, Work, and the Home

“You can’t justify your existence by what you do. You can’t justify it through a promotion, a huge bonus, or the ability to feed your family all organic food. You can’t justify your existence through your holiday cards or your well-attended speech. You can’t justify it through your huge Twitter following or your mommy blog. These attempts to attain some measure of success are vanity, according to Ecclesiastes. What we long for is perfection—in our works and in who we are. This is only possible through Jesus—Jesus lived the perfect life we can’t, paid the penalty for our sins that we can’t, and rose from the dead so that one day we will rise if we trust Him for the gift of eternal life. What needs to be done has already been done! Until then, we invest. We invest what we’ve received so that we multiply His gifts for His glory.”
― Carolyn McCulley, The Measure of Success: Uncovering the Biblical Perspective on Women, Work, and the Home

“Martin encouraged his wife’s productivity. Kate was the better financial manager and, after years of his overspending, Martin agreed to rely on her business acumen.”
― Carolyn McCulley, The Measure of Success: Uncovering the Biblical Perspective on Women, Work, and the Home

“We’re not adding to the “Mommy Wars.” You can lower your guard. We are looking for unexpected grace.”
― Carolyn McCulley, The Measure of Success: Uncovering the Biblical Perspective on Women, Work, and the Home

“I am bombarded not only with all the cultural expectations for professional success, but I also encounter personal ones—like the ones for a perfect home and perfect children. The digital age only makes this worse. When the web plasters perfection everywhere, it’s easy to feel intimidated by the comparison. It makes me ask, am I doing enough?”
― Carolyn McCulley, The Measure of Success: Uncovering the Biblical Perspective on Women, Work, and the Home

“In the biblical narrative, work is a co-labor of love, tasks done in partnership with a gracious God who uses our labors to bless others.”
― Carolyn McCulley, The Measure of Success: Uncovering the Biblical Perspective on Women, Work, and the Home

“Transitions are bumpy, even the happy ones. We all go through them at some point. It takes time to adjust. Often, we feel like we should be much farther ahead than we are—unless we remember that “bare kernels” are always sown in weakness. It’s not bad to have your identity change. God promises that if we trust Him, He will replant us to reap eternal rewards.”
― Carolyn McCulley, The Measure of Success: Uncovering the Biblical Perspective on Women, Work, and the Home

“Sometimes in church circles, we talk more about contentment (which is a good thing) but it can minimize the importance of ambition—that somehow it is more spiritual for Christians to be passive. This misunderstanding had slowed me down to the point where I wasn’t moving ahead at all. I learned that ambition is really a desire to grow. I realized that in order for me to obey God’s call to be “fruitful and multiply” (Gen. 1:28), I needed to stop shutting down ambition just because I was afraid to be disappointed. The Hebrew word pārâ in that verse means “to bear fruit, to grow, to increase.”2 This is the essence of ambition—it’s the desire to step forward, to take risks, and expand our lives, instead of shrinking back.”
― Carolyn McCulley, The Measure of Success: Uncovering the Biblical Perspective on Women, Work, and the Home