Does the end justify the means?

Success is being able to say like Paul,

I have fought an excellent fight. I have finished my full course and I’ve kept my heart full of faith.
2 Timothy 4:7-8 The Passion Translation (TPT)

You may have put a lot of effort into building something that looks really great but it doesn’t make you successful if what you built isn’t what you were meant to build. What you’re doing with your life may be a good thing, but is it a God-thing? We would do well to remember that we don’t get rewarded for something done well that we weren’t supposed to do.

Success isn’t only doing what you’re called to do (your full course) but it’s doing it with excellence. There are many people who are just trying to get their job done.  They are not concerned with how it’s done but if it’s done. People like this aren’t all that concerned with the details and they believe that the end result justifies their means to get there.

Are you trying to fulfil your destiny any way you can, or are you trying to do it the best way you can? Most people see their destiny as a destination, but God includes the journey. The end (goal) doesn’t justify the means (how you get there). We need to do things the right way; with integrity, character and excellence.

10 God has given me unique gifts as a skilled master builder who lays a good foundation. Afterward another craftsman comes and builds on it. So builders beware! Let every builder do his work carefully, according to God’s standards. 11 For no one is empowered to lay an alternative foundation other than the good foundation that exists, which is Jesus Christ!

12–13 The quality of materials used by anyone building on this foundation will soon be made apparent, whether it has been built with gold, silver, and costly stones, or wood, hay, and straw. Their work will soon become evident, for the Day will make it clear, because it will be revealed by blazing fire! And the fire will test and prove the workmanship of each builder.
1 Corinthians 3:10-13 The Passion Translation (TPT)

We’re all building something in life and we’re either building with quality (gold, silver or costly stones), or with inferior things (wood, hay and straw). We choose how we build. Building the right thing in the wrong way doesn’t make it right. The end doesn’t justify the means.
 
Are you aiming to get the job done or are you aiming to get the job done well and with excellence? You may build something that looks like a success, but it doesn’t make you a success if you did whatever you could to do it (like lie, cheat, steal, abuse people etc.).
 
Success isn’t determined by the end result – the journey (how you get there) is important, too.