Self-Control Is Key to Success in Business

This week was very hard at work. Some things didn’t go as planned, others were not planned at all, and other things were rushed at the last minute. It all contributed to opportunities to get angry and frustrated at situations and people. I was successful at not getting angry in some circumstances and not successful in others. But it all gave me time to reflect and see how we can improve the way we do things and how I can work better with others. Today I would like to share a devotional from my book Devotions for Working Women that encourages us to remain calm and practice self-control in the workplace. I hope it helps you as it helped me this past week.

Self-control Is Key to Success in Business
#273

James 1:19-20 (NLT)
Dear friends, be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Your anger can never make things right in God’s sight.

There are many opportunities in the workplace to become angry. For example: the vendor didn’t deliver what he promised, your employee didn’t follow your directions and messed up, your customer is never satisfied with your product or service, your boss treated you unfairly, etc. I could go on and on.

Even though we may have good reasons to be upset, the Bible tells us to do the opposite—to listen to other people first, to be slow to speak, and slow to get angry. This seems to go against our nature. In fact, many times it feels good to be angry. Yet the Bible also tells us why we should not get angry—it “can never make things right in God’s sight.”

Self-control is a must if you want to be successful in the business world. It is a sign of maturity in the spiritual realm and professionalism in the natural realm. Therefore, practice self-control and train yourself by listening to people, waiting to speak, and by not getting angry so easily. I’m sure you will have plenty of daily opportunities to practice in your workplace.

You can purchase Devotions for Working Women at www.amazon.com.