“A worthless man, an evil man,
goes around with deceitful speech.
Winking in his eye, shuffling in his foot,
pointing in his fingers,
perversion in his heart, he devises evil;
at all times he will send out discord.
Upon such a man, suddenly shall his calamity come;
in a moment he will be damaged and there is no healing”
I recently had an employee who appeared to be a great “marketer”. He had a big personality; a fill-the-room type of presence. In the world of consulting engineering, it is hard to find people who like to do the cold-call marketing. This guy seemed made for it.
He had a great resume. He had great experience. He had a philosophy for a great cultural fit.
Yet, with all that greatness potential, I fired him.
I fired him because greatness doesn’t trump deceitfulness.
It took me over a year of trying to work with him; trying to get his greatness to flourish without the discord that continued to fester. It took me over a year to realize that there actually was no greatness. His shtick was a deceptive illusion.
I had been deceived by a carefully crafted resume that masterfully gave false impressions. I had been deceived into believing that a person who taught the principles of how I try to manage, would actually practice it.
So, I endured a year of discord. A year of smoothing down ruffled feathers. A year of confronting and encouraging the proper behaviour. A year of scratching my head in hopes that I would not have to give up on someone.
But then came that last straw of deception and I had no choice but to fire him without warning.
Upon such a man, suddenly shall his calamity come;
in a moment he will be damaged and there is no healing
I always hope when I fire a person that it will be a wake up call and they will change their behavior. However, I don’t have much hope. I recently saw his updated LinkedIn profile. His description of his work while under my employment is…more deception.
Therefore, I conclude that Proverbs is as relevant today as it was in Solomon’s time. This man has…
perversion in his heart, he devises evil;
This man needs Jesus. Without Jesus, none of us can ever experience the greatness for which we were individually created. Jesus is the only one who can cure a deceitful heart because a deceitful heart comes from a perverse heart, which is a evil heart.
We all need Jesus, every day! Therefore, this man will stay in my prayers for God to do a miracle and change his heart. The same miracle He did for me.
https://ref.ly/Pr6.12-15 via the Logos Bible Android app.
A DEVOTED LIFE 