Workplace Jealousy
Several years ago I
worked at a large department store for a few months part-time back in their
information/help desk. All in all it
wasn’t a bad job and the only reason I left was because unbeknownst to me they
couldn’t give me some time off for a trip that I already had plane tickets
purchased. I left on good terms.
As part of this job,
the company wanted us to do the voiceovers/announcements for the store at
regular intervals. To all the rest of
the staff in our tiny corner of the store this was like a punishment or pulling
teeth to get them to do it. There are
times that my theatrical background kicks in and in this case it was like
handing me candy. I love to do
voiceovers and I gladly took on the responsibility whenever I was there. Immediately people who worked for the company
starting to call up to our desk, or walk up to us, and ask who was doing the
voiceovers. It began to happen so much
so that the departments specifically were asking that I and only I be the one
to do them. The manager herself who was
there with a district manager happened to hear me and personally came up to
thank me for such an excellent job.
One would think that
because the other staff at the help desk no longer had to do it when I was
around they would be happy, but that wasn’t the case. One of the ladies, who was a Christian,
started to subtly try to knock me any time I did a voice over. I knew what she was doing. She was quick to criticize and was trying to
get into my head. Then one night she
declared it wasn’t my job but in all of our job description and manipulated me
to let her do them. Really? Was I suddenly back in high school? I think she expected me to fight her on it,
but I didn’t. I started to get annoyed
but quickly decided it really wasn’t that big of a deal. If she wanted to do it then she could go for it. I’d be lying to you if I didn’t admit to
getting a little smile out of the fact her voiceover was really bad and no one
could hear it. I realize that’s caddy
but I’m being honest. The whole thing
was just juvenile.
It’s so sad that
similar scenes like this get acted out all too often. Competition, Envy, and Jealousy need to have
no place in the life of a believer. We
all have a race to run. We are
accountable for how we run our races.
God has given me certain abilities that you may not have, but guess what? You have abilities that I don’t have. It’s not about who is the best and greatest
at everything. It’s about what you do
with the gifts and abilities you have.
All of these manipulative-mind-game-who-can-I-knock-down-to-make-myself-feel-better
is simply ridiculous. It just goes to
show where someone’s maturity in Christ is like a huge flag. God made you special. Embrace that uniqueness!
For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you
as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that
there may be discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, slander,
gossip, arrogance and disorder.
Paul knew how much all of this stuff seeps in the
body of Christ and he knew how silly it all was. There should be no place for it. Don’t give it room. If you start to feel those things about
another person than make yourself stop! We
all have our own race to run. Focus on
your race!
Remember God has awesome plans for your life. Get excited!
Comments
Post a Comment