Stop Waiting for Permissionமாதிரி

What Fuels You?

There is no direct flight to greatness. It’s a road trip. Don’t get me wrong, though. It doesn’t have to be miserable. Even the stops can be times of refreshing—depending on where you stop for fuel and what you put in the tank. We are all fueled by something. And what fuels you matters.

One fuel that won’t get you all the way to greatness is pride. Instead, it will corrode your engine from the inside out. Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride comes before disaster, and arrogance before a fall.”

It’s easy to identify pride when it comes in its most obvious form: self-promotion and braggadocio, but pride, simply put, is the preoccupation with self. We are fueled by pride when all we can see is our own point of view: how I am affected by this situation, what I can offer in the way of gifts or abilities, and how various outcomes will impact me. Understanding pride in this way allows us to see that insecurity and self-doubt are often symptoms of pride rather than indicators of humility.

Crazy, right? At first glance, an insecure person seems humble and full of sober self-judgment, but take a second look, and you’ll see just as unrelenting a focus on self as the overconfident self-promoter.

Saul was ancient Israel’s first king, and he was fueled by pride. It wasn’t obvious early on. In fact, when we first meet him, when the prophet Samuel tells Saul God has chosen him to lead His people, the young man appears to be a perfect picture of humility: “But am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest tribe of Israel, and is not my clan the least of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why do you say such a thing to me?” (1 Samuel 9:21). Me? Little ol’ me??

As time goes on, however, what seems at first to be picture-perfect humility is revealed to be crippling self-doubt and insecurity. Instead of staying laser-focused on the God who calls him to greatness, Saul’s focus on himself is all-consuming.

Like other wrong fuels, pride can give you an impressive jump start. Over time, however, it will keep you from building a talented team and receiving wise counsel from others.

What fuels you? What drives you to accomplish something or to desire to live out God’s purpose for you?