One of the most important characteristics of exceptional men and women is their thirst for knowledge. These individuals understand that they need knowledge to achieve success. The Holy Scriptures reveal to us that God Himself confirmed to His servant Joshua that knowledge is the weapon that could guarantee him success and prosperity.

“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth; you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” Joshua 1:8

We must understand that Joshua in this text was a young Jewish boy whom the Lord appointed after Moses’ death to lead the people of Israel into the promised land after their exodus from Egypt. Joshua’s mission was to drive out all the peoples who already occupied the promised land at that time. Joshua had to wage war against them to force them to leave the territory in favor of God’s people.

What I find particularly remarkable in this story is the fact that God did not ask Joshua to rely on miracles to succeed in his mission. God asked him to develop his knowledge by studying the laws of success contained in the Holy Scriptures. The advice God gave to Joshua is valid for anyone who, like Joshua, is called to conquer a domain of life. Whatever the field in which we want to achieve success and prosperity, we must first take the time to study it in order to acquire the maximum knowledge about it.

In his book “Goals,” the author Brian Tracy explains that he was born into a financially poor family and his parents could not afford to pay for his education. He therefore started doing odd jobs at a young age. One day, he was hired as a salesperson in a company. A few months later, Brian Tracy noticed that one of the salespeople in his group consistently made more sales than the dozens of others.

One day, Brian Tracy decided to approach this excellent salesperson to ask him the secret of his success. He learned that this person regularly attended various seminars and conferences on sales. He also read numerous books on sales, sales techniques, the psychology of sales, and many others. This is how Brian Tracy learned that every salesperson was capable of excelling, provided they did what was necessary to increase their knowledge of sales. He then decided to become a student of sales. The more he studied and applied what he learned, the more his sales increased.

A few years later, Brian Tracy was promoted to the position of Sales Director of this company. He was not just satisfied with being a Sales Director. He knew that in the same way that knowledge had allowed him to succeed in sales, it would also allow him to succeed in other fields. He decided to study entrepreneurship, real estate, training, and writing. A few years later, he owned dozens of businesses as well as dozens of properties. He had been able to create training centers that trained millions of people worldwide. He also managed to write more than eighty books that changed the lives of several million people.

Why Know

The lack of knowledge prevents success. One of the main reasons we must constantly grow in knowledge is that ignorance leads to death. This is revealed to us in the Holy Scriptures through the book of the prophet Hosea.

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.” Hosea 4:6

We understand through this text that God Himself can do nothing for a person who lacks knowledge. Despite the love He has for His people, God is obliged to let them perish because of their ignorance. If the lack of knowledge caused the failure of God’s people, then it will also cause the failure of anyone.

I have personally noticed that the most vulnerable people in most societies are the most ignorant segment of the population. The most influential and powerful people, on the other hand, belong to the category of those who possess a lot of knowledge.

When I was very young and living in one of the poorest neighborhoods in the city, I did not know that the inhabitants of my neighborhood and I just needed to increase our knowledge in finance, management, and communication, for example, to be able to get by. We rather believed that we were predestined to misery and that the day God changed His mind about us, our condition would also change.

As long as we lived in ignorance, we were condemned to live a miserable existence. My social and financial condition began to change when I started to develop my knowledge after the Lord allowed me to realize that I needed knowledge to get by…

This text is an excerpt from the book “THE MINDSET OF EXCEPTIONAL PEOPLE” written by Dominique MBOG.

We invite you to read the following article “Nothing Is More Important Than Thoughts.”