Financial Discipleship in BusinessSample

Business people are often strong personalities who want to go it alone. At the core of financial discipleship is ‘accountability’, the need to be accountable/responsible to God and to fellow man. Our accountability to God is a model for the need for accountability in our own affairs. The standard is very high – God’s holiness. “Walk before me, faithfully, and be blameless,” says God. (Genesis 17:1-2)

Paul urges us not to conform to the standards of the world, but to let our thinking and decisions formed by His standards as revealed in the Bible. The Lord will hold us fully accountable for our actions. (Romans 12:1-2)

Accountability to our superiors, equals, and those under us, helps us in living out authentic faith in the marketplace and helps to protect us from taking a wrong path.

The Bible says that being accountable is essential in applying Jesus' teachings in our business. The Proverbs tell us that heeding advice provides protection and raises the effectiveness of the business in honoring God through all our decisions.

I have been in business for more than 40 years, and all that time, I have been a member of groups of Christian business people. In these groups, we discuss business dilemmas and discover together what counsel and guidance the Bible gives. We then pray over our difficulties and our challenges, asking the Lord to reveal His wisdom to us. I have found that there has never been a problem in business that I have faced that someone else in the group has not already been through! Advice from fellow Christians in business has helped to prevent me from making wrong choices! Getting help to work through my dilemmas has saved me a lot of money, by preventing me from making wrong choices! It is a rewarding investment in time and money to belong to such Christian business accountability groups! (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10)

Questions for the day:

• Would Jesus be pleased with your choices in accounting, operations, sales, and human resource management? He will hold you accountable to make your choices Biblically.
• Do you have friends in business who can give you godly counsel and help you work through your problems? God often works through other believers to communicate His will to us!