4 Areas To Bring Honour In Business

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Now back to this Post...
Imagine the relationship within the Trinity.  Holy Spirit, Jesus, The Father, all in perfect unity and perfect Love and honour towards each other.  Perfect.  Just imagine it.

I imagine there would be very little jostling for position, insecurity and pulling rank.  Very little selfish demands and very little dishonour.

Of course, when I say "very little", you know I mean "none".

I imagine the relationship to be one of perfect honour.  Jesus honours His Father as much as Holy Spirit honours Jesus as much as Father honours Holy Spirit...

Jesus revealed a little piece of this Nature when He said “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve others...” (Matthew 20:28).  Jesus wants us to do the same as what His Father does for Him.  Serve and honour others.

You see, the realm of the Kingdom of God is one of unconditional Love, and seeks to serve others before oneself.

There's a problem though...  The Gospel is about us.


Yes.


Breathe.


I said it.  The Gospel is about us.  The Gospel is about you.

Jesus died for us.  Jesus died for you.  He did that because God wants us to succeed!

But somewhere along the line, we Christians lost the heart of God in our interpretation of the Good News Message.  (And I'm talking historically to the Great Awakening days - more on that some other time).

The heart of God is always looking to serve the needs of others.  We took one part of the Gospel, and not the whole package.

In Genesis 12:2 God declares to Abraham “You will be blessed to be a blessing!”

We got stuck on “we will be blessed”.

YES!  We will be blessed!  But if we don’t pick up the second part of that promise, we move from operating in God’s realm and into the realm of this world.  When you begin balancing your successes based on the principles of this world (Capitalistic thinking) your successes will always have certain conditions to them.  But when you go beyond the selfish success principles of this world, you access a much higher level of success and blessing!

THE KEY TO BREAKING THE SELFISH CYCLE
They key is to understand God's nature, and then change our minds to realise we have God's nature.

Why does God say to Abraham “you will be blessed to be a blessing”?  Because His heart is always for others!

God is always considerate of others.  So should we.

You see, God does want to bless us!  He does want us to be successful!  But!  He wants that blessing to run over into every person we come into contact with!  Including our...
- staff
- suppliers
- attorneys
- service providers
- government officials...

The term “be a blessing” encompasses everyone.

You see, the problem with not considering others in a Kingdom Business is that business just becomes about how much profit we can make.  And that?  Is Pure Greed.  Simple as that.

TOOLS FOR PROFIT OR RECIPIENTS OF BLESSING?
Business should not be about how much profit we make.  Business should be about much influence we can have.  As Kingdom ambassadors we should be looking to better the lives of as many people as possible.

I am all for profit!  Why?  Because I know that the more profit I make, the more influence I can have!

But if I lose sight of the fact that I am doing this to influence others, something switches in my soul...  The need and desire for profit becomes greater than the desire to influence and better the lives of others, and if I am not considerate of the lives of others?  What happens?  They either become obstacles or partners to my profit.  In essence, they become a tool that I use to make more profit.

Think about the tools you use:  Pots, cutlery, screwdrivers, cars, phones...  You don't really care what they feel.  As long as they help me get the job done.

As long as we treat people like “tools”, they won’t learn much from us, and they most certainly won’t want to learn from us.  Let alone learn valuable Kingdom Culture!

You see, people, are... people.  Dearly loved children of God who Jesus died for.

4 AREAS TO BE THE CHANGE:
I believe there are 4 categories that we as ambassadors of the Kingdom of God can be aware of in our dealings with people.  From staff, suppliers, and our very own friends and family...

1. Be Careful of Angry Responses
Does Jesus want people feeling upset and angry because a client shouted at them for poor service?  No.  What is the solution to that problem?

2. Generous Staff Structures
Does Jesus want people working long hours with basic pay that can barely keep a family afloat, of whom they barely see at home anyway?  No.  How does Jesus want people to live?

3. Don't Always Go the Cheapest Route
Does Jesus want people to get disappointed by a client who promised a good order but chose to abandon them for something cheaper at the last minute?  No.  How would Jesus approach such a situation?
This goes for local manufacturing in order to boost local economy, thinking about job creation etc.

4. Be Environmentally Conscious
Does Jesus want this world to be polluted & abused till it is barely inhabitable any longer?  No.  What is Jesus’ view of this planet?

If we consider people before profit, if we have a healthy view of the future, our businesses will succeed in the long-term.  I am 100% confident of it.  It may be tough at times to take the higher road, but there is no doubt in my mind that if by portraying an attitude that places a high value on people, we will be rewarded handsomely.  Because people...  will want to do business with those who care about them.  We can't build that reputation without making this massive character trait our very own, and building it into the very culture of who our businesses are.



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