How do you handle success when the business starts booming? When people are finally noticing when you hit that goal, land the client, close the deal, what happens in your heart? Because success can be a blessing or it can be a trap. This is Leading 10. I'm Chris Moore. Today we're talking about how to handle success with humility. Deuteronomy chapter eight, verses 11 through 14 say, beware that thou forget, not the Lord thy God. Lest one thou has eaten and aren't full and has built goodly houses, then thine heart be lifted up and thou forget the Lord thy God. In Deuteronomy, Moses is preparing the Israelites for the promised land. It's a place of prosperity, of abundance, of success, but before they arrive, he gives them a warning. Don't forget God when you start to win. It wasn't a warning about failure. It was a warning about success because success can be dangerous, not because money recognition or growth is bad, but because we tend to forget the source of our blessing once we feel self-sufficient. You've probably seen this before. A leader starts small, grateful, humble, prayerful, and then the doors open, the opportunities come, the team grows, and slowly that humility fades. It's easy to trust God in the valley, but will you still trust him on the mountaintop? That's what this episode is about. So what does this passage say about us? Well, one, it says we're forgetful. When things go wrong, we cry out to God. But when things go right, we start to believe the lie. You know, we've all done this. All you have to do is listen to prayer requests. There's more prayer requests than there are praise items. You know? And as we get more success, as we begin to achieve our goals, we shift from dependence to pride, from gratitude to a sense of entitlement, from prayer to a concentration on performance. But God tells us something different and, and it says something about God. He tells us that he blesses us. Yes, he wants to see his children succeed and flourish. But he also knows that success can drift us from the very relationship that gave us strength in the first place that drew us towards God. Most of us didn't find God on the mountaintop. We found God in the valley, and God is much more concerned about your heart than he is about your platform and the influence you have. He's more concerned about your character than your career. I am be honest, there were seasons in my life when I prayed for doors to open and when they did, I walked through them, but I had a little sense of pride instead of a. An attitude of praise. I was quick to talk about strategy and slow to mention surrender, but every time I tried to lead in my own strength, it ran out. Pride drains the soul, but gratitude we're truly thankful. It fills us, and it's hard to do. I'm not saying this is easy, but let me ask you again, how are you handling your successes? Are you still praying like you did when you just got started? Are you still hungry to hear God's voice as you were in the early days? Or are you coasting on yesterday's victories and, and yesterday's things that you conquered? Here's what this means for your leadership. We need to celebrate wins, but we need to do it with humility. We need to give credit where it's due, especially to God. And it's more than just standing up in an award show and saying, you know, you're, you're thanks to the big man upstairs. Keep your heart in a posture of dependence upon him. You didn't get anywhere on your own. You definitely didn't get to where you are now on your own. You worked hard, you made some wise decisions, but every opportunity, every connection, every open door that you walk through was allowed by God. And the moment we forget, that success becomes our stumbling block. Humility isn't self-deprecation. It's recognition. It's saying, I'm grateful for what I have, and I know where it truly came from. As a leader, this can really help keep you grounded and it can help keep your team inspired and it keeps your eyes fixed on the right goal because at the end of the day, your title, your revenue, your reach, none of it's gonna last, but your walk with God, that's the one thing you have that's eternal. So here's your challenge for today. Publicly acknowledge someone who helped you succeed. Could be a mentor, a teammate, a spouse. And yes, give God the glory. Make it just as evident as anything else. Put the spotlight on someone else for a moment, and remind yourself that leadership is also stewardship. It's not ownership. Success is a gift. It's not a goal. Your faithfulness matters more, how many followers you have or how many employees, or again, how much influence that you think you weld. Your humility matters more than the highlight reel. So keep building, keep dreaming, keep leading, but never forget who brought you this far to where you are today. This is Leading 10. I'm Chris Moore. It's time to go and lead with humility. Give some credit where it's due. If this episode helped you reflect, go ahead and hit that like button, subscribe so you don't miss what's next. And share this with a leader who's winning right now, but not need that gentle nudge from you to remember to keep their heart humble. And I'll see you next time.