Pride in the Workplace
Does pride in the workplace exist? Yep, it certainly does! Every one of us will deal with a prideful person in our workplace or the pride within ourselves. How do ride against the tide of pride in our work? The answer is in humility and humbling ourselves before God. We need to have a reverential fear of the Lord that He has the better plan for us. He will show us the way when we trust Him.
Humbleness and Humility
Humbleness and humility is one thing that is lacking when we consider pride in the workplace. This world is full of broken people who want to take the credit for something and want to be seen in a good light. Who doesn’t really? No one wants or desires to look bad, right? But it is the attitude that the person has that puts them in a place of having themselves be at the center. It is the pride that will bring him low.
One’s pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor.
Proverbs 29:23 ESV
Yet to be in a place of honor, our spirit needs to be one of humbleness. Solomon also added that it is better to be in this lowly state than be prideful and take part in the spoils.
It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud.
Proverbs 16:19 ESV
Why would this be? Since we are a part of the workplace, shouldn’t we get to take part in the bounty that we get from there?
Well, yes and no.
Compensation for Pride or Humility?
Because we are working and doing our best at our job, we should take the compensation that is allowed us. This is how God provides for our needs. He provides a job for us to be able to pay our bills, bring our tithes to the church (the money is His after all), put some away in savings, and spend the remainder on things we need or give away to others.
In the book of James, he talks about how we are chase after these worldly things and put them above our relationship to God. This we should not be taking part in the extra ‘spoils.’ These spoils are obtained by coveting to have more and we are putting the pride in that “we” made it happen.
But God helped line up the job for you. He gave you the brains and ability to do the job itself. God is the one who deserves the praise for the opportunities you are being given. Even though we chase after these things and God desires for us to Him as first place in our lives, He waits and is gracious to us.
But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
James 4:6 ESV
He gives us more grace and we should humbly come to Him. He is the one who will lift us up. Not the prideful comments, honor, and glory of man.
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
James 4:10 ESV
God honors us when we are humble before Him. When we put ourselves on the pedestal of pride and want everyone to look at us, we are pushing ourselves further away from God.
Choose Humility
We are to CLOTHE ourselves in humility. Make that a priority as you deal with those in your work, your neighborhood, or even your household. Serve those around you and God will bless you with more of His grace.
Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
1 Peter 5:5 ESV
Example of Pride in the Workplace
I have experienced pride in the workplace by other persons. People will act with arrogance and have all the attention focused on them. It becomes rather sickening as you see it is all about them.
But I have experienced pride in myself as well. I desired to have a promotion at work and went back to school for a second master’s. And I put in many hours to get ahead. In actuality, I was no different than the arrogant one who had all eyes focused on them. We both had the same motive – to make it all about ourselves. But one person showed the focus on the outside and the other on the inside.
However, that is not what the Lord wanted for me. He wanted me to have a humble spirit and do my work for Him. And part of doing that work for Him, he wanted me to focus on my employees and help them get ahead while doing a great job in meeting the needs of our customers.
Pride in the Workplace Involves Fear of the Lord
Instead of pride in the workplace, part of this humble outlook involves having a reverential fear of the Lord and not believing that He has the best plan for you. At the core of it all is unbelief. We wait for what God has us and decide to step out on our own. This is our pride coming out and saying that we know better than the almighty God of the universe.
That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear.
Romans 11:20 ESV
Trust in the Lord
When we have this reverential fear of the Lord, we are choosing to trust Him. But those who don’t trust God, are chasing after a lie that this world gives us what we need.
Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after a lie!
Psalm 40:4 ESV
It is better to be patient in our Spirit and wait for God. We see what the potential could be and get excited to take off and do our thing. Yet it doesn’t even add up to what God has in store for us.
Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
Ecclesiastes 7:8 ESV
When you get to the end of the thing, you have the 2020 vision to see the best outcome. Or we see what we needed to learn in the situation. It all comes down to trusting God, He really does know what’s best for us.
Pride in the Workplace Doesn’t Pay – Being Humble Does
But God had a better plan for me. My job changed and I ended up working in another department for two and half years. During that time, He humbled me and changed my focus. I worked under the tutelage of a woman who became a good friend.
Recently, I left my company of 22 years to take a manager position, where I have three direct reports. This time, I am focused on the customer and my employees. And I can truly say, being humble does pay great benefits. The best part of all of this is that I have peace and contentment because I am doing work that is God’s plan!
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Resource Library
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