Business people provide mothers and fathers for a community

Good day,

may God's peace and blessings be with you.

It's wonderful that you've found your way to this post today. This post addresses the question how a community and its members can prosper using God’s given entrepreneurial talents. When God blesses us, He intends for the blessings to overflow to others. Using God's gifts produces fruit, which in turn nourishes others. The better we use God's gifts for one another, the more fruit can grow from it.

Of course, the topic is complex and leads to further questions in the areas of entrepreneurship, business management, and cooperation in the workplace and in business. This post does not address these.

The goal of this post is to provide food for thought and stimulate reflection. Ideally, it could lead to discussion within your company and your community.

And now to the topic.

Businesses keep communities vibrant. They provide jobs. They provide solutions for a need within a community and maybe even beyond. They innovate. They are the spine of the local economy. They contribute to the spirit of a town.

1 Peter 4:10 (ESV) “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:”

God has provided each of us with a gift - our unique abilities. If you are running a business, God has positioned you to use the gifts you have received from Him to serve the people around you by providing products and services, as well as employment opportunities. Through God’s favour on you and your business you are bearing fruit and provide blessings for the community, putting you in the position of a mother or a father.

Through your business you provide income to sustain livelihoods, contribute to the well-being of the community and enable community life to flourish. One principle of stewarding your business well according to the Kingdom is that you prioritize the well-being of the community over your own selfish ambitions which would rob the community and its members of their strength. The same applies to your employees and suppliers. They steward their roles well when they prioritize the well-being of the community over their own selfish ambitions. The economy of the Kingdom is based on serving one another which leads to prosperity.

Proverbs 11:11 (ESV) “By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, but by the mouth of the wicked it is overthrown.”

Stewarding your business well according to the Kingdom enables others to benefit from the fruits that the business produces. Your work aims to nurture as many as possible within the community, who themselves will be enabled to nurture others. Of course, also only if the spirit of the Kingdom is followed by placing the well-being of the community over one’s own selfish ambitions.

And the community will nurture your business as employees, customers and suppliers. The economy of the Kingdom is based on serving one another with the various gifts and talents given to each member, leading to prosperity for the community through bearing fruit.

John 15:1-2 (ESV) “(1) “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. (2) Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”

In the Kingdom of God everything is about bearing fruit and the increase of fruit bearing so that one day the whole world would be filled with fruit. In this Glod is glorified, as His Kingdom advances on earth.

We are to progress and mature over time from bearing fruit, to bearing much fruit, to bearing fruit that will last. The more we mature in stewarding our business well according to Kingdom principles the more we will produce fruit that will last. Maturing involves pruning, a (at times) painful process of removing interests and activities that do not produce fruit. Through this removal the remaining branches may bear even more fruit.

The fruit we are to bear is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. The bearing of the fruit is shown in our actions and attitudes with which we are to reflect God’s character.

Galatians 5:22-23 (ESV) “(22) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, (23) gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

Your business is a God-given tool to positively impact a community.

Here are some questions for reflection.

What kind of fruit is your business bearing?

What kind of fruit would you like your business to bear?

What measure of glory and responsibility can your business live under without its branches being crushed or affected in a negative way?

If you are interested to learn more about the fruit of the Spirit I recommend this article from the Bible Project

The Fruit of the Spirit (and Its Meaning) in the Bible - Divine Characteristics That Form in People Who Walk by the Spirit