A Battle of Humility vs. Pride at Work

Let's take a look at a battle of humility vs. pride at work. It'll be a personal tale.

A few weeks ago, I neglected to post on a Tuesday. What? No post on a Tuesday?

If you read this blog, you know weekday posts are Tuesday and Thursday, with a supplemental Sunday entry. The weekday posts are intended to focus on work, specifically how we can supernaturalize our work, or turn our daily labor into prayer, or incorporate work and our spiritual life. Take your pick.

For years - as in YEARS - these have appeared on Tuesday and Thursday without fail. Like the post office (or like it once was, perhaps) we deliver no matter the conditions. The post office slogan claimed your mail would be delivered even in the teeth of rain, snow, sleet, or hail - or something like that. We made no claims, but the fact is, we delivered every time on Tuesday and Thursday.

Part of the reason was to walk our talk. In our work, we can't allow anything to get in the way of our producing the best possible work for the greater glory of God. So that means that unless we're so sick that we simply can't do our job, we do it. And for year after year, that's what we did here.

Being organized is one element of this. But even the most organized work won't work (so to speak) without the will. Will power is the final defense against all that conspires to throw us off our diligent pursuit of the duties of our state of life - and one of our greatest (and most time consuming) duties is our work.

Countless Tuesdays and Thursdays passed and - Pop! - the posts appeared. Will power came to the rescue.

Of course will power doesn't just materialize out of thin air. It's something that's developed. It must be developed so it's strength builds and it becomes available to us in habitual fashion. Our will power should be something we have learned to use by habit.

If it's not habitual and strong, it can easily be derailed by our fallen human nature, and by the ever present onslaughts of the world, the flesh, and the devil. We might say a weak will allows the world and the flesh to have their way with us. All the distractions the world throws at us would grab our attention and direct it away from the task at hand. It allows the flesh to weigh on us when we're not feeling all that well, when we're tired after a bad night's sleep, or any of the other myriad physical (and, we might add emotional) feelings that assault in varying degrees at varying times.

And we might say that a weak will is the devil's workshop - just as we say "an idle mind is the devil's work shop." 

The companion of a strong will - habit - comes mainly through repetition, as do all habits, good and bad. We must get used to asserting our will in the face of all obstacles when it comes to our work. The only caveat in this endeavor to develop a habitual strong will is the danger that pride sneaks in the back door. So as we try to develop our habit, it's important to seek God's grace. He will give us the grace we need, but we must ask for it. And we must recognize that it is only because of His grace that we have been able to develop a sturdy, strong will. We must forsake the notion that our habit comes strictly through our own efforts. That is simply self trying to take center stage. And, as we should know, center stage belongs to God alone.

This matter of self always trying to assert its dominance, and the pride that often accompany it, can be a constant - even if not consistent - battle for many of us. We try to do our best. We do it. Then we are more than happy to take all the credit. Self has won this particular battle.

Instead, with each victory, we need to turn to the true source of that victory. And giving God His due, with gratitude and love, we will have turned the tide of battle to the good.

Well, all of this serves as background to the subject of the day: a battle of humility vs. pride. As we'll see next time, the virtue that serves our purposes of quelling self and putting pride in its place (far from us!) will be humility....