By Rachel Loe, March 28, 2024

“If you don’t speak up for yourself, no one will.” I have heard this repeatedly from those around me in the corporate world. The context is career advancement and making your successes and triumphs public knowledge so that you get “the credit you deserve.” But where is the line drawn between not being run over and being the office braggart everyone loathes? What biblical principles can we follow to help us navigate these lines? 

As believers, the quality of our work is important to the Lord. I have said before that we work as unto Him and no one else (Colossians 3:23-24); therefore, the quality of our work and our work ethic should reflect that. How we conduct business should follow the biblical principles of honesty and humility. When we interact with coworkers, we should be the ones people can turn to and know we will do the right thing. So how do we advance when we know we are doing good work but must also be humble? What is humility? 

Humility is recognizing that the gifts we have and the talents we show come from the Lord. We work as unto the Lord, primarily because He is the one who has blessed us with the ability to do well and succeed. This does not mean we diminish our work or say, “Oh, it was nothing”; we give credit where it is due. Getting excited about an accomplishment and being able to point to Him can be an avenue for witness for us. “In all things acknowledge Him” (Proverbs 3:6 ESV). There are those in the workplace who will constantly talk about their success and disregard anyone who helped them get there; these are the people who are the most insecure and must make their own sense of worth elevated in the eyes of others. The people who will not just give credit to the Lord but also recognize teammates, circumstances, and hard work as the driving factors behind success will gain the respect of those around them and help spur others to hard work and success. 

Zig Ziglar, a Baptist American author and motivational speaker, has said, “You can get everything in life you want if you will just help other people get what they want.” I do not totally agree with the driving force behind that quote that what we want solely relies on what others can do for us; however, I do believe that one of the pillars of this quote and Ziglar’s belief is that when you follow the great commandment “love God and love others” (Matthew 22:38-39 Paraphrased) things will generally flow more smoothly. We serve a God of order, and He laid out the world for us to depend on others. Things work better when we follow His order.