Posted: October 21st, 2008
Hello and welcome to a new issue!
In today’s issue we’ll discuss how you can have a proper motivation for your business.
Today’s issue includes:
1. Welcome & Introduction
2. Article: Having Kingdom Motivation For Your Business
3. Other quality Links from Around the Internet
If you’ve missed the recent issues you can find them here:
Issue #200
Issue #199
Finally, if you are looking for:
* income stability in these changing times
* a way to earn extra income and be able to stay at home
* a way to save for retirement
visit my business site at: http://dannyg.makemoreathome.com
Enjoy the issue!
Danny Gamache
Posted: October 21st, 2008
What is the core thing that motivates you in your home business? What is it that you strive for, that you work hard for? Why are you building your business? Ideally you should have a number of answers to these questions. You should have motivation based on what you will do with your business income – how you will use it, and what you will change in your life. You should also have motivation based on the people you will help and the difference you can make in their lives. But most importantly you should build your core motivation around the Kingdom of God.
In the Sermon on the Mount, one of the most famous speeches ever given, Christ calls us to seek his kingdom. He says,
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33)
You will note from this verse that the kingdom motive must come first. Jesus says, “Seek FIRST his kingdom.” It is not a secondary goal after your personal goals on how you will spend your income, rather it must come first. The goal of seeking the kingdom must come before your concerns about what you will do with the money you make, or why you might financial need to build your business.
Seeking First The Kingdom in Your Business
So what does your business look like when you “seek first the kingdom”? For some of you, the changes may be significant, for others, it will just be a motivation change for the things you are all ready doing.
1. Care for other first.
If we want to live out the reign of God in the business world, we must seek to care about the things that Jesus cared about. Jesus showed a concern throughout his ministry for both the physical and spiritual needs of people. In the business world people have an opportunity to do both. As we get to know people we can look for ways to help improve their lives. This might be through helping them achieve an important goal with their own business, or helping them to improve their health with our products.
We must take a particular care for looking after those less fortunate than ourselves. Scriptures are filled with the calling to look after the poor, the widow and the orphan. These are the representative sample of those less fortunate. In your business, you can care for those people by spending time with people who might not naturally succeed in your business, listening to those who are hurting and suffering, and looking for ways to give to people outside of your business activities.
2. Take the focus off of money.
One of the areas of temptation where business people may be especially susceptible has to do with money. Paul writes in his first letter to Timothy that, “the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil (1 Timothy 6:10)” It is important to note here that he does not save that money is the root of evil, but rather “the love of money”. Money itself facilities trade, allows for employment, and allows for goods and services to be spread through commerce. However, people can easily become caught by the love of money. The love of money can lead to “all kinds of evil”, as it is easy to move from the love of money into deceit, malice and harming others.
Another one of the dangers that can come because of the love of money is when building up earthy treasures becomes more important than building heavenly treasures. Jesus says, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matthew 6:19-21).” It is not that earning an income, and caring about financial matters is condemned, rather it is treating money as a treasure that will last that is of concern. True treasures are those in heaven, and that should be our primary pursuit.
3. Being a steward.
Stewardship means remembering two things: First of all that all of the money, people and other resources under our control comes from God, belongs to God, and always is God’s, and secondly that we are commissioned to make decisions in using the resources He has entrusted us with in ways that live out his kingdom.
We also need to be good stewards of our businesses growth and success. The business opportunity we are working with is one of the resources we need to steward. We need to work hard to grow our business and make the most of the opportunity that God has entrusted us with.
4. Work for God, not for man.
We need to remember is that work, for its own sake, is good. In Colossians 3:23, we are told, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men…” Certainly this speaks to the motivation of work. Work, in many different forms, can be done as an act of service and worship to God. Romans 12:1 tells us that people should “offer your body as living sacrifices holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.” Work is one way of offering this sacrifice of worship. God is glorified through work – by working at something for the Lord, and by offering it up as a sacrifice of worship.
This focus on working for God instead of for man, teaches us that we don’t need to be worried about impressing other people. The work you do in your business may bring you significant recognition from other people. You can not let this get to your head or become your primary motivator. On the flip side, by seeking the kingdom in your business you may do things that will slow your business growth down. Here you do not need to worry about the negative comments that others might bring you.
5. Share the Good News.
Christians also need to be willing and ready to share God’s love through words. We are told “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander (1 Peter 3:15-17).” Acting with love, living as an example, and being a servant to others are all an important part in setting the stage for when we have an opportunity to share our faith. We need to be bold in verbally sharing the reason for our hope and the message of salvation that we have in Jesus Christ.
Changing your motivation to be a kingdom-first motivation is not easy. In my own business I find it very easy to be primarily driven by the bonuses I want to achieve and the advancements I want to attain. Striving for these bonuses is not wrong, if it is a secondary motivation, perhaps part of a larger stewardship motivation that fits with your kingdom purposes. It is vital to continually reorient yourself, confess where you have moved away from true motivation, and return to a focus on being kingdom motivated. When you do so, you will get everything you need. We are not promised everything we want, but our needs will be taken care of. Because of this we don’t need to worry. Here is where the rest of the passage becomes important:
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble on its own.” (Matthew 6;33-34).
Posted: October 21st, 2008
Hello everyone,
Here are a few good links I found recently:
1. The Gazette from Colorado Springs has a deeper link inside Tim Ferriss’ Four Hour Work Week:
http://www.gazette.com/articles/sandoval_33240___article.html/time_work.html
2. Leo Babauta writes about Productivity 2.0 and How the New Rules of Work are Changing the Game:
http://zenhabits.net/2008/10/productivity-20-how-the-new-rules-of-work-are-changing-the-game/
3. On my other blog, Success Professor, I wrote about Entrepreneurship is a Key for Poverty Reduction:
http://successprofessor.ca/2008/10/15/entrepreneurship-a-key-for-poverty-reduction/
Blessings,
Danny Gamache
http://dannyg.makemoreathome.com
Posted: October 13th, 2008
Hello everyone!
Welcome to our 200th issue. I’m still working on several improvements related to our new “blog” format for this newsletter. Hopefully, each issue is getting better. Please continue to give feedback in the comments section of this article.
Today’s Issue Contains 3 Parts:
1. Welcome & Introduction
2. Aritcle – Called to Be Thankful
3. Post from Around the Internet
Thank you for your support.
REMEMBER! If you are looking for a business from home, I’d be happy to give you a personal phone call consultation to see if our business might be right for you. For a preview visit:
http://dannyg.makemoreathome.com
Blessings!
Danny
Posted: October 13th, 2008
Photo by Flyinace2000
One of the clearest and most frequent callings upon people throughout Scriptures is the calling to be thankful. Repeatedly we are called to give all of our praise and thanksgiving to God. One place this is very clear is throughout the book of Psalms. Psalm after Psalm calls upon us to “Give thanks to the Lord”.
This is Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. As a Canadian, who is married to an American, I am thankful because I get to celebrate this holiday twice each year! That of course means Turkey and stuffing twice and visits to friends and family twice. It also provides a great opportunity to reflect on God’s provision in our lives.
There are many benefits to being thankful and expressing thanksgiving. In fact, it is something we should be doing for growth in our lives, even if God didn’t call us to it. Elsewhere, on my other blog, I’ve written an entire article about the benefits of living a thankful life. Some of these include:
Benefits of Thankfulness
• Thankfulness focuses your minds on the good things of life
• Thankfulness helps you think of the big picture
• Thankfulness reduces stress
• Thankfulness provides hope for the future
• Thankfulness reminds you to be happy now
• Thankfulness puts you in our proper place
And so, while there are many benefits to us for being thankful, the benefits are not WHY we should be thankful. We should be thankful, because God calls us to be give thanks again and again. He knows how quickly we forget to be thankful for everything we have and so he reminds us over and over again. Scripture even give us many reasons to give thanks to God.
Reasons to Give Thanks
1. To recognize God’s love and goodness: “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. (Psalm 106:1)” The very fact that God is good and loving towards us is enough of a reason to give thanks to God.
2. So others will know God: “Give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name; make known among the nations what he has done. (Psalm 105:1)” We are called to give praise for evangelistic purposes. As we give credit to God for his good works and give thanks to him, we are proclaiming his works amongst the nations to people who need to know the love and goodness of our Lord.
3. Since you know who God is: “Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of Lords; His love endures forever. (Psalm 136;2-3)” God deserves thanks and praise simply because he is who he is. He is God of gods, and Lord of Lords.”
4. Because he delivers us from our enemies, and from tough times: “to him who led his people through the dessert, His love endures forever. And freed us from our enemies, His love endures forever. (Psalm 136:16, 24)” Whenever we go through our tough times, our deserts, God is faithful and delivers us. He delivers us from our enemies – both the seen and unseen.
You will notice that none of these commands to give thanks are for a specific day of the year. Thanksgiving does not need to wait for the turkey. Instead, we need to be giving thanks each day, and all times. It is possible to develop a life filled with thankfulness.
Being Thankful in Your Business
Photo by dierken
Thankfulness is also important in your business. In your business you should take time to:
• Thank your customers for shopping with you
• Thank your employees or business partners for their hard work
• Thank your spouse for his or her support
• Thank your mentors and teachers for the support they give you
• Thank the person who told you about your business, because they have enhanced your life
You should also give thanks to God for everything he has brought to your business:
• Thank God for providing you with a second income
• Thank God for bringing leaders for you to work with
• Thank God for the personal growth you are experiencing
• Thank God for giving you the skills and abilities you need
• Thank God for the friendships you have developed through your business
• Thank God for the company you have to work with
• Thank God that he has a great plan for you
Living a life filled with thanksgiving should be an automatic in our lives. There are so many benefits to being thankful, that give us enough reason to focus on living a life of thanksgiving. But even if we received no benefits, we should be thankful because God has called us to be thankful. The verses in Scripture are not recommendations to be give thanks, but rather are commands! Through these commands God presents many reasons for us to be thankful. In our business, we have many more. We need to be thankful to those around us, and thankful to God for his provision.
Danny Gamache
http://dannyg.makemoreathome.com
Posted: October 13th, 2008
Here are some other important posts from around the internet.
On my other blog, THE SUCCESS PROFESSOR, I wrote about how to Simplify Your Budget.
The blog, “All Financial Matters”, shares a great article that shares why We’re All Self-Employed.
The blog, “Vanguard Church” has a five part series discussing A Christian Perspective on Work.
Enjoy, and thanks for reading.
Danny Gamache
http://dannyg.makemoreathome.com
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