Remember who gave it
Moses warns a prospering people
Before Israel enters a land of plenty, Moses warns them about the specific danger of success. When you are full and prosperous, he says, beware lest you say in your heart, my power and the strength of my hand have gotten me this wealth. Prosperity has a way of erasing the memory of who provided it.
The remedy is deliberate remembering: you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth. The leader who forgets the source of his success will soon credit himself — and pride always follows close behind self-credit.
“You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth.”
— Moses — Deuteronomy 8:18 (WEB)
Don't let success convince you that you made yourself. Remember who gave you the power to succeed, lest prosperity breed pride.
“For what do you have that you didn't receive? But if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?”
Moses knew prosperity erodes memory and breeds self-credit. A leader formed here deliberately remembers the source of his success, especially when things go well. He treats gratitude as a guard against the pride that success invites. The inner work is remembering who gave you everything you have.
Build the habit of crediting God and others for success, particularly in seasons of plenty. Treat prosperity as the moment to increase remembering, not to relax it. Help your team resist the my-power-and-my-hand narrative when wins pile up. Anchor confidence in the Giver, not the gifts.
Leaders guard against pride in failure but are blindsided by it in success, when self-credit feels most justified. The blind spot is letting prosperity quietly rewrite the story to my power got me this.
In your current area of success, deliberately name who and what God used to make it possible. This week, credit them out loud, and refuse the quiet story that you made yourself.
Failure rarely makes a leader proud; success does. The danger comes precisely when things are going well, and you begin, subtly, to believe you are the reason — that your power and your hand produced all this.
In your current success, have you started to credit yourself — and when did you last deliberately remember who actually gave you the power to succeed?