The Greatest Enemy to Your Continued Success in Chiropractic

I have to admit that I struggle with the idea of blogging. When I write, I always wonder if I have anything worthwhile to contribute. Does anybody really care? Is anyone reading? I am slowly coming to the conclusion that it really does not matter. I should just write what is on my mind, post it, and if anyone reads it and can benefit from it, so much the better.

My last series of writings had to do with what I called the 4 P’s. They were praise, prayer, patience and perseverance. It has really been on my heart lately to write about another subject that just so happens to begin with the letter “P”. My good friend and president of AMC, Tom Owen, III, has often been heard saying that “pride will cost you more than anything you own.” I have come to believe that to be true.

Because of pride, we find ourselves unwilling to seek help when we need it. Because of pride, we see our selves as autonomous in all things with little or no need for God in our lives. Now you might not think that you are guilty of this. You might think, I believe in God, I pray often, I turn things over to his control, and on and on. When in reality, you walk through most of your daily life being led by your own mind rather than totally surrendering your will to the Holy Spirit. Dare I say, it must be an absolute, unequivocal, reckless abandon, totally sold out surrender. If it is not, pride remains.

Pride creates a sure barrier to the fullness of God’s grace and blessing in your life. Pride causes you to live your life in selfishness. By that I mean that serving the self, gratifying self, or at least working to ensure that you protect yourself from what you perceive to be the trials of life is your daily aim. Pride causes you to see yourself as the source. Pride inhibits the working of our holy, loving, and gracious God in our lives.

What does all this have to do with you and your practice of chiropractic? It has everything to do with it. You set goals, you take action, you head out on a course that you have determined. You seek referrals in your practice, you market for new patients, you set goals for your staff, you go through your routine office visits day in and day out. The more your practice grows, the better you do financially, the new house, the new car, the more you accumulate, the more you begin to think it is you, and your strength, and your abilities that is the source for it all. That is pride, and it is a sure and definite enemy.

Pride is a beast that can start small and subtly, but can continue to grow into a great behemoth that can overshadow your heart, if you allow it. So, this begs the question. How do you slay the beast? You can’t.

God can.

God can, and he will and he does anytime you ask him.

It takes action of your part. You must humble yourself. You must pray, and in so doing these things you must lay yourself on the altar in absolute surrender of self. Lay down your life daily, and let God pick it up for you, and he will give you a life far more abundant, far more spectacular, far more peaceful than you could ever imagine. Oh, there is great joy found in the denial of self, and it makes absolutely no sense to our feeble minds.

I must emphasize the importance of doing this daily, for if you don’t, pride will rear its ugly head again, self preservation will kick in, and you will be right back in the same old trap. So, how do you do it? You make a decision daily to pray, to read God’s word, and to ask for his strength sufficient for that day. Give no thought to tomorrow. Today will have enough challenges of its own.

I will leave you with this. Jesus said in John 15, verse 5: “I am the vine, you are the branches. If a man remains in me, and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” Pride will separate you from His abiding presence. I think that sums it up. God be with you all.