Produce Your Best Work - But Guard Against Pride
I hope you do your best when you work. And I hope your best is superior work - the kind that may attract compliments, even high praise, from your customer, client, or boss.
(You might imagine that Our Lord's work in St Joseph's shop was excellent. You know He did his best.)
Good work brings a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment - and that's good. But, this world being what it is - you know, at times it's the devil's workshop - that can tempt us to pride. In his "Rule" for monks, St Benedict addresses this:
Good old St Benedict. He understood human nature so well. That's one of the reasons I read The Rule of St Benedict daily. His insights help me greatly in my work - and in my life in general.
Bad old devil. He understands human nature so well too. That's one of the reasons I try to follow St Benedict's exhortation: ora et labora - work and pray. The more time I spend in prayer and work, the less time I have to provide that "idle mind" that inevitably becomes "the devil's workshop."
A good work day is one where I am absorbed in my work, offer it up for the greater glory of God, and maybe even acknowledge His presence through prayer or a simple aspiration like "I love you Jesus" from time to time.
A great work day is where, at the end of the day, I've produced great work - and immediately thank God, knowing that the whole reason my work came out this good is because of Him. It's a really effective way to keep that devil at bay, to avoid the temptation to pride.
Everything in my life that's good - including my good work - comes from God. I'm his instrument.
So there's a simple way to avoid my best work becoming a source of pride. I know myself well enough and realize that - left to my own devices - I might produce really good work, but it would just give me a swelled head and lead to my spiritual destruction over time. I know I must guard myself against pride.
And so I pray: God help my humility. Lord, keep me humble.
(You might imagine that Our Lord's work in St Joseph's shop was excellent. You know He did his best.)
Good work brings a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment - and that's good. But, this world being what it is - you know, at times it's the devil's workshop - that can tempt us to pride. In his "Rule" for monks, St Benedict addresses this:
If there be skilled workmen in the monastery, let them work at their art in all humility, if the Abbot giveth his permission. But if anyone of them should grow proud by reason of his art, in that he seemeth to confer a benefit on the monastery, let him be removed from that work and not return to it, unless after he hath humbled himself...
Good old St Benedict. He understood human nature so well. That's one of the reasons I read The Rule of St Benedict daily. His insights help me greatly in my work - and in my life in general.
Bad old devil. He understands human nature so well too. That's one of the reasons I try to follow St Benedict's exhortation: ora et labora - work and pray. The more time I spend in prayer and work, the less time I have to provide that "idle mind" that inevitably becomes "the devil's workshop."
A good work day is one where I am absorbed in my work, offer it up for the greater glory of God, and maybe even acknowledge His presence through prayer or a simple aspiration like "I love you Jesus" from time to time.
A great work day is where, at the end of the day, I've produced great work - and immediately thank God, knowing that the whole reason my work came out this good is because of Him. It's a really effective way to keep that devil at bay, to avoid the temptation to pride.
Everything in my life that's good - including my good work - comes from God. I'm his instrument.
So there's a simple way to avoid my best work becoming a source of pride. I know myself well enough and realize that - left to my own devices - I might produce really good work, but it would just give me a swelled head and lead to my spiritual destruction over time. I know I must guard myself against pride.
And so I pray: God help my humility. Lord, keep me humble.
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