To succeed in business, you need to find your “why.”
This is a common saying that many business owners hear throughout their careers. It is meant as an encouragement to find the motivating factor that will help pull you through the tough times. As every business owner knows, there are tough times. Either you are heading into a tough time, presently in a tough time, or leaving a tough time. Entrepreneurs therefore must have a strong “why” to continue when they want to give up.
Most of the time, people will identify their family, their desire to have a better lifestyle, or maybe something more virtuous than both of those motivations as their ultimate “why.” On the other hand, Scripture challenges us with this line of thinking, no matter how upright it might seem at first glance.
We are told in the Gospels that man cannot serve both God and money. We are told that we must choose where our satisfaction comes from. As the psalmist says above, “I shall behold your face in righteousness; I will be satisfied with your likeness when I awake.” This contrasts with the person he is asking to be saved from, whose satisfaction comes from the pleasures of this world. Their bellies are full, and they have excess to pass on to their children.
But these people are called wicked by David, who was also rich and left an inheritance to his children. How can David say that this is wicked since he is guilty of the same thing?
On top of that, many important figures in the Scriptures whom God commends as blameless were rich. Abraham, the father of the faith, was among them. A handful of wealthy people in the New Testament were mentioned by name and, in general, as faithful believers.
The distinction here is in satisfaction, or what one identifies with as the core of one’s person. If our core value is even something as precious as family, we are not worthy of God.
When we accept that there is a cross that Christ calls all believers to bear, we come to a place where we realize that the things we have by grace are not ours, whether they happen to be our families, our businesses, or our possessions. We are, in fact, “poor in spirit” because nothing we have is ours. Everything belongs to the Creator; we are merely stewards.
The more we are sanctified, the more we will treat our possessions and earnings like we only watch over them for a time to be used for The Kingdom. Sometimes this will mean giving much away. Sometimes this will mean using your possessions for other people. Sometimes this will mean building your business to love your neighbor, making your town better by the service you provide, and treating your employees with the love of Christ, like the centurion who saved his servant by using all of his resources to ask Jesus to heal him.
My encouragement to business owners is to make your “why” this: to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself.
About The Author
1689 Covenantalism | Amillennialism | General Equity Theonomist
Since 2018, Jake Beal has been working as a realtor in Spokane, WA. He also holds a master’s degree in Music Composition. His interest in theology was sparked during his studies at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Illinois. Jake has been happily married to his wife, Heide, since 2015.
