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Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment

(Romans 12:3). Bonus Reading: Jeremiah 9:23-24

J.B. Phillips, the famed translator and essayist, entitled his autobiography The Price of Success. An eloquent passage explains why:

"I was in a state of some excitement throughout 1955. My work was intrinsically exciting. My health was excellent; my future prospects were rosier than my wildest dreams could suggest; applause, honor and appreciation met me everywhere I went.

"I was well aware of the dangers of sudden wealth and took some severe measures to make sure that, although comfortable, I should never be rich. I was not nearly so aware of the dangers of success. The subtle corrosion of character, the unconscious changing of values and the secret monstrous growth of a vastly inflated idea of myself seeped slowly into me. Vaguely I was aware of this and, like some frightful parody of St. Augustine, I prayed, 'Lord, make me humble—but not yet.' I can still savor the sweet and gorgeous taste of it all—the warm admiration, the sense of power, of overwhelming ability, of boundless energy and never-failing enthusiasm.

"It is very plain to me now why my one-man kingdom of power and glory had to stop."

Hudson T. Armerding in The Heart of Godly Leadership

Has success affected you in a negative way? Call out to God for help.

Nothing conceits like success.

Al Bernstein (WRITER)

Credits: Adapted from--Wednesday: The Heart of Godly Leadership (Crossway, 1992)

1999 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity. For reprint information call 630-260-6200 or e-mail mail@menofintegrity.net.
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