James 3:14-16 “If you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such ‘wisdom’ does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.”
These are strong statements, all the more because envy and selfish ambition are common (and commonly accepted) in the worlds of business, sports, politics, and academia. Even some Christians try to sanitize their baser impulses by reframing their envy and selfish ambition as competitive instinct or drive or yearning for a broader platform from which to serve the Lord more effectively. This denies the truth. I have seen this firsthand: a professing Christian boss whose unfettered ambition, rage, hubris, and envy ushered disorder and evil into the workplace and made it a daily misery for my colleagues and me.
Father, please use me in my workplace for good and for the growth of your kingdom in the hearts of men and women. Keep me from envy and selfish ambition. Thank you for the many lessons you’ve taught me about myself over decades of work and the many ways you have protected me from going down the wrong paths even when I foolishly thought those paths were good.