Tell It Tuesday: Pride Will Bring You Low, But Being Humble Takes You Higher

Proverbs 29:23 warns that “a man’s pride will bring him low, but honor will uphold the humble in spirit.” And I definitely know that to be the truth…

I never left a job on good terms. I’ve even been fired by my own mama. My job at Giorgio Armani was no different, where customers were being ignored as I shopped for party outfits my entire shift. Strolling in late EVERYDAY and getting calls from friends brought the manager to the end of her rope, which ultimately led to the end of my job. And in my typical funky attitude, I sucked my teeth, rolled my eyes and threw up the proverbial peace sign without even saying a word. I was outta there and couldn’t care less. I started modeling after that and I was so glad to give all that service oriented crap my foot to kiss. I had no idea that things wouldn’t pan out quite the way I envisioned.

You see, when I gave my life to Christ a couple of years later, I immediately sensed that I needed to make a change. So, when I got home from a spiritual retreat, I fell to my knees and blurted out my first official prayer. It’s the kind you THINK you really mean…until God answers you (in HIS WAY, not yours) and you wish you could change your mind!

“Send me out into the world Jesus, wherever you send me, I’ll go!”

Yep that was my prayer. Nothing fancy. And you won’t believe where I ended up…

I’m thinking my immediate future is gonna include some missionary work in a foreign land, traveling the world in ministry or becoming an ambassador for the homeless, you know, something deep. Well, little did I know I was being “sent” to go work in a shoe store! No washing the feet of orphan babies for me, no sir. I was “called” to put shoes on the stank feet of grown ups! Gee, thanks Jesus, I’’ll be more careful with my prayers next time.

So while some people thought I had either lost my mind or sold my soul to some unworthy fake cult leader, I quit modeling. And as insane as it seemed, I had an incredible peace within my being that I was actually doing the right thing. It turned out that God was guiding me to a place that would serve as a training camp for my soul and I was going to learn the true meaning of humility and servitude.

I was hoping to just work at some low key place where I could kinda hideout, play incognito, pay my dues under the radar and then bounce as soon as I got the ok from the Man above. But no, I ended up in an incredibly popular shoe store swarming with athletes, celebs and ballers of every kind. It was time to suck it up, leave my pride behind and do whatever God had in mind.

Almost a year to the day, I felt the release to leave. I did such an amazing job, the owners asked me to stay. I .proudly left there with relationships in tact, a better attitude, a serving heart, and enough experience to start my own business. The owner’s daughter later modeled for my company’s children division. THAT’S GOD. I learned how to submit to my assigned authority, and then God made me a BOSS. And speaking of bosses, I called my old manager at Armani to say I’m sorry. She said, Ta-ning, are you in therapy!?” I replied, “No, I’m Born Again!” In other words, God taught me how to bow down so I could truly rise up!

Pride might make you feel like you’re on top, but you don’t get to stay there for long. Heck, it got Trump into the White House, but there’s a consequence in session and his fam, biz and political empire are spiraling right on outta control. As for Ball, only time will tell. But if being banned from Laker media outlets is a sure sign, his downward spiral has already begun. Thankfully, God can use a fall from grace to lead us right into His merciful arms, and I really do hope that’s where they end up. All they have to do is leave those egos at the door and do the lowly things that will keep them in high places.