As our community grows and as God blesses, we will face the challenges that come with that. One of the wonderful areas of blessing and growth is all the new business ventures, and so we need to be praying and thinking about the challenges that will come with it. So here are three biblical principles to be meditating on as you do business with one another in the community.
First, always seek to bless your brother or sister more because they are a fellow Christian – never look for or expect a deal or a discount – as buyer or a seller. A truly free market actually is a gift-giving exchange. But the accent is on the giving, not you getting other people to give to you. So, if you need the goods or services of someone else, you should want to give as big of a gift as you can in exchange for it. You should want to bless them more so they can give even more. And if you are giving the good or service, give a good gift, high quality, excellent, and thoroughly honest.
Second, write all business agreements down. Do not say that since they are Kirkers you don’t need to write it down. No, we are people of the written Word. God wrote everything down for us because we are the kind of people who forget.
Third, don’t assume you know anything about your brother’s situation. This applies to what you might be tempted to think your brother can afford to pay or give, but this also applies to various business decisions, whether it’s your competitor or the fact that somebody in the church went with your competitor. Don’t assume the worst; don’t assume anything. Life is complex, and remember that great Pauline principle: mind your own business, in every sense of the word.
Photo by Scott Graham on Unsplash
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