Taken from 1 Timothy 6.6-16
6But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. 11 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you 14 to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen. 17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.
As Christian Business Owners, this passage for God’s holy word should strike us to the core: To be godly in our walk while living in contentment. Our ambition should be driven by our call to generate wealth for the Kingdom of God, not wealth for ourselves. As business owners, we have a unique opportunity to generate wealth beyond what billions in our world never dream of having. Since it is God who gives us the ability to create wealth (Deuteronomy 8), we need to take into account our stewardship of that wealth before God.
As business owners, we brought nothing into this world. Many of us started with nothing. Our businesses – if profitable and well-run – will enable us to earn significant wealth that we can realize either through consistent savings, or at the sale of our business or both.
We must remember that if our love of money – i.e., our love for toys, convenience, prestige, power and so forth – will become the root of many evils in our life. God will not allow this to continue, so more than likely, He’ll take the business away from us or will take us through deep troughs of pain and difficulties in order to make Him our first love. Make no mistake – your faith, Peter says, is worth more than silver or gold. God wants us to love Him first and have a deep, abiding relationship of faith with Him. Anything that gets in the way – no matter how good – will be taken from you by God. He will not play second fiddle.
Do you put your hope in your wealth? Proverbs reminds us that wealth is fleeting – it is here today and gone tomorrow. Frankly, you’re more financially secure unemployed but fully dependent on God than you are with a billion dollars in the bank and living apart from God. It is God who provides our security – not our money. And our security is in heaven, not on this earth.
Use your wealth to further God’s agenda on this earth. Give it away. Not because He’ll give you more, but because it doesn’t belong to you in the first place. Follow the Lord – be energized by His Holy Spirit and use your wealth as He would intend.
Bill English, Publisher
Bible and Business
