October 15, 2026

Business by the Book

Proverbs 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

Most of the business people I know are in business for the long term. They desire success not for a week, a month, or even a year. They work for success that will endure for a lifetime. In their early years they work, scrimp, save, invest, work some more, and plan to have some financial independence during their years of retirement. This takes lifelong success.

Perhaps the biggest robber of that lifelong success is pride and a haughty (exalted, grandeur) spirit. These always bring a measure of destruction and a fall. Examples of this malady abound and are hardly worth the time. Suffice it to say, pride and a haughty spirit are never profitable. For the short term they may seem to be, but in the long term they will bring those afflicted thereby low.

I recall a specific instance from a few years ago when I had a flash of pride and that haughty spirit squirted out again. I was hot and physically tired. I had just finished doing the weekly yard work at our church (we have four acres) and needed to replace a missing part on our weed eater. I made a trip to a mower repair shop in our area, walked in (sweaty, stinky, unkempt, and in a sour mood) and asked if the shop was a Toro dealer. The woman at the counter said “yes.”  I told her the part I needed for our Toro weed eater describing it in detail. She listened patiently then said, “You will have to find a repair shop for weed eaters, we don’t work on them or inventory their parts.”  This made no sense to me for she already told me they were a Toro dealer. I asked if she could look in a catalog and order a part. She said no. I showed my exasperation by my facial expression and walked out in a way as to describe my displeasure.

In the car I first thought of the wasted time and how unfair she had been. Then it dawned on me. She was doing her job and she had the right to say that they couldn’t help me. In actuality she probably could have looked up the part, called Toro, placed an order, called me when it came in and helped me out, but the amount the shop would make on such a small part would not have been worth her time and effort. The more I thought about it the more ashamed I became of myself. I was so disappointed that I had a root beer float for solace.

I can push that pride down inside, I can control my spirit the majority of the time, but every once in a while they slip out. This happens in every life. When it does, realize it and push it back down into its place, and resolve not to let it happen again. There is a difference between realizing that the haughty spirit and pride have made an appearance and being blind to those ailments. One group has hope, the other can only await the humbling experience of a fall; or worse yet, destruction.

Dr. William Howe