DISCOVERING THE Entrepreneur in You
I
love entrepreneurship: the art of starting and running a business for the purpose of making a profit and creating wealth. I hope more Christians can step out in faith to start their own business as God directs them. God is a creator and I believe that as Christians, we have the creative force that will produce great businesses that honour and glorify God. We must however place our devotion to God at the centre of all that we do and ensure that the business opportunities we explore honour God in all aspects. Deuteronomy 8:18 (NIV) says: “But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today”.
H
ave a Vision and a Plan Genesis 1:1 says: “In the
26 | Sunrise Autumn 2019
beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters”. God had a clear picture of what He desired from the start but the first thing he created was light. His ultimate goal was to create man and create an atmosphere for fellowship with man. But God developed a plan which was progressive over the 6 days of creation. The plan ensured that his ultimate goal was realised within a time frame. If you are going to start or run a business, it is important to define a vision. What do you want to achieve, what kind of company do you want to run? You must also create a progressive plan to get to your vision. It is the reason I recommend developing a business plan because it enables
you think about important elements of your business. Strategic thinking can often ensure that you are successful in the end.
D
evelop a Godly Mindset
Often there are limiting beliefs and ideas that stop Christians from exploring entrepreneurship or indeed the concept of wealth. It is important that we reject some of these beliefs. I will mention a few: Money is Evil: This often comes from the scripture about the love of money being the root of all evil in 1 Timothy 6:10. Money is a neutral force like technology, the internet and other tools that are constantly being developed to make our life easier. It is the wrong use of money or the obsession with or love for money that is evil. Godly wealth is an important tool for the expansion of the gospel and money can be
