It’s easy for Christian business executives to follow secular business methods, but in order to maintain your Christian faith, it’s critical that you adhere to biblical business-minded standards. (Romans 12:2) When you first launch a business, your hopes are to turn a profit, attract plenty of clients, and ultimately make a living. But plans don’t always work out as expected. You begin to feel strained and maybe anxious after that.
If you want to thrive in business, you sometimes start thinking about certain unbiblical commercial practices, or you could occasionally start getting recommendations from well-meaning people—including Christians—to modify some of your business practices or to be a little more lenient with your ideals. In a situation like this, how can you remain strong and weather the storm?
The solution is to establish a strong foundation for your company or organisation and the Bible is that foundation. When you base your life and business on Scriptural truths; you will choose to do the right thing and obey God’s word, the Holy Scripture, rather than being blown around by every wind of doctrine (in this case, business method).
Though it’s certainly not an easy burden to consider, God’s grace is adequate, and His strength becomes perfect in your weakness. You need the help of the Holy Spirit to be firm when you face difficult situations in your business. Don’t try to do this alone or think that your own strength or effort will suffice. In order to assist you to start a successful business that you want to start, I’m going to provide you with some biblical entrepreneurship recommendations in this article. Before we begin, let’s examine biblical entrepreneurship in more detail.
Biblical business management is essentially conducting business in accordance with God’s instructions and understanding what the Bible says about it. It’s realising that your business and faith are intertwined and applying moral standards to commercial operations decisions.
Applying biblical values to all aspects of your business such as customer service, employee treatment, marketing strategies, supplier relationships, and investment selection, is known as Christian entrepreneurship.
If it seems obvious enough, that’s because it is! Doing business the way God commands it is biblical entrepreneurship! That involves utilising God’s guidelines and directives for you in your business dealings as a Christian. There’s no need to put yourself through unnecessary hardships or go above and beyond what it is that Christians need to be doing. Let’s now examine some of the variations in biblical entrepreneurship.
Let’s consider three factors that set Biblical Entrepreneurships apart from and Non-Biblical Entrepreneurships.
1. The goal of a biblical company is to exalt God. That is a Christian entrepreneur’s first and most crucial goal. One of the tenets of biblical entrepreneurship is to prioritise God in your business and stick to your moral ideals regardless of what other people may say.
2. A Christian businessperson views their company as a tool to further God’s kingdom and the gospel. She utilises her company as a platform to encourage everyone she meets and to testify to the veracity of God’s word.
3. A Christian entrepreneur lacks avarice in pursuit of wealth. Since the Bible states that a worker is deserving of his pay, having a profitable business is acceptable. But the Christian business owner isn’t all about making a lot of money via dubious or immoral means.
You don’t work nonstop because you want to be wealthy. Furthermore, a godly company doesn’t take advantage of its clients, staff, or partners in order to increase profits.
These are three of the most significant distinctions between biblical entrepreneurship and non-biblical entrepreneurship. They also set Christian company owners apart from non-Christian company owners. Let’s now examine some biblical entrepreneurial concepts that any Christian proprietor needs to be aware of.
BIBLICAL OWNERSHIP PRINCIPLES TO HELP YOU RUN YOUR BUSINESS THE WAY OF GOD
1. Everything is owned by God
It’s common for business owners to believe they are in charge and that everything they possess is theirs. You’re right in a way, but as Christians we know that God is the true owner and that we are only stewards. This idea is brought to our attention in Psalm 50:10. “Because I own every animal in the forest and every herd on a thousand hills.”God owns all you own, just as He owns you. That’s the way you should approach and manage your business. Believing that everything belongs to God makes following biblical guidance simple.
Recognising that everything belongs to God would motivate you to work for His glory and avoid unethical business activities. Keep this in mind at all times if you want to be a devoted servant who honors His master. It is one of the core ideas of biblical business.
2. Act in the way you want to be acted upon by others
This is referred to as The Golden Rule, and Matthew 7:12 contains this idea. This Bible verse’s basic idea is to treat people like you want to be treated. Don’t treat people disrespectfully, for instance, if you don’t enjoy it when others do same to you. If you won’t want the same thing done to you, don’t deceive or lie to other people. This is a really useful concept that serves as a great reminder to be nice and treat others equally. It serves as a simple reminder to do no harm. So how does business apply to the Golden Rule?
Here are a few instances of how this idea is applied in the business world:
- Providing a helpful and high-quality product or service at a reasonable price;
- Taking care of clients and customers with courtesy and kindness;
- Responding to complaints from customers in a truthful, equitable, prompt and honest manner;
- Paying people who work for you properly and caring for them with dignity;
- Being truthful in your promotional materials and commercials;
- Setting up your bills and financial obligations (if any) on time;
- Keeping your word; and
- Using every opportunity and every relationship to honor God and further the gospel with your words and deeds are some examples of how this principle works in business.
You can see that there are several ways to incorporate this philosophy into both your personal and professional life, so there’s really no reason not to.
3. Act and put in a lot of work
“Similarly, faith is dead on its own if it has no deeds.” (James 2:17) Being a Christian entrepreneur does not mean that you have to forgo goal-setting, action planning and execution in favor of your religion. A successful firm requires significant effort and financial investment to manage. If you don’t put in the work, you won’t see the desired outcomes. Unfortunately, I witness a lot of Christian company owners who disregard this concept because they believe that confessions, prayer, and faith will bridge the gap; nevertheless, keep in mind that you reap what you sow.
For instance, you will learn more about God’s word if you spend all of your time reading the Bible or listening to sermons, but if you don’t put in the effort, it won’t have much of an impact on your business. Many biblical entrepreneurial concepts are straightforward and common sense, yet many are difficult to put into practice. Therefore, if you have been avoiding taking action, it’s time to examine your behavior and make a commitment to investing the time necessary to expand your company.
4. Avoid debt
One of the main reasons so many would-be business owners fail to fulfill their ambitions is a lack of capital. Depending on the kind of business you now run or wish to launch, you can require a substantial sum of money, which you most likely don’t have.
It is normal for businesses to borrow money to support their operations, but as Christians, we are instructed to owe no man anything than a continued debt of love, so we should proceed with caution. After all, the borrower is the lender’s servant.
But I also understand that many companies couldn’t function without debt, and the Bible doesn’t specifically condemn borrowing. That being said, if you have access to loans, don’t just start taking out loans. High debts might potentially cause your firm to fail and destroy your company even if your financial situation only slightly changes. When the company is doing well, avoid taking on too much debt since you never know what the future holds. Having too much debt can reduce your earnings and may make it harder for you to pay your bills on time and complete other financial commitments.
If you must borrow money to support your business, just borrow what you need, not what you want to because debt often leads to further debt for enterprises. After that, concentrate on increasing sales to develop your company and pay back all of the loans you took.
5. Discuss and improve
“So which of you who wants to build a tower doesn’t first sit down and figure out how much it will cost to finish it?” (Luke 14:28) Allow me to demonstrate the method that many small business entrepreneurs employ to launch and manage their companies. They start by developing a company concept, creating a website, making or purchasing their items, and then presto! They are operating a company. If you’re wondering how I know this, it’s because I saw some friends go through the exact same procedure years ago which explains why they failed miserably. Without a strategy, a firm cannot be launched or operated.
Furthermore, without a company plan or tactics, you won’t get very far. According to Luke 14:28 in the Bible, how do you launch a business without first sitting down to calculate how much it will cost to operate, how it will produce money, and how it will attract clients? No, this does not imply that you have to plan out every last detail; rather, you should have a basic idea and a strategy that you can adjust as you go.
Note that a few fundamental tactics such as your financial and marketing plans and sales techniques should also be defined. It’s not too late to write a strategy if you launch your company without one. Planning and strategising are never too late to begin with. Consequently, if you are trapped or uncertain about what to do next, spend some time developing a business strategy and coming up with some ideas to help you advance in your venture. Also, make room for prayer and talk to God about everything. Remember, prayer gives wisdom and prayer works.
Biblical Business Opportunities
If we only took the time to carefully study and sincerely apply God’s word, the Bible would be rich in wisdom and with business-related counsel. I’ve explained biblical entrepreneurship and given you some guidelines to go by. It is up to you what you do with this knowledge, but ideally, it will push you to glorify God in all that you do and lay a strong foundation for your business. Which of these biblical entrepreneurship principles are you finding difficult to follow? Your Money Counts Ghana is here to help you navigate your way through Bible and Money initiatives.