How Christians Should Think – Part II

Posted: September 10th, 2009

think
Today we continue or series (see part 1 here) examining what the Bible says about how Christians should think. In particular applying it to how Christians in a home business should think. Last week, in part one of our series we took a look at how the Christian mind should be joyful. We saw how Paul, even while facing persecution for his faith and being in jail, writes a letter to the Philippians. A letter filled with joy. And within that letter he emphasizes that believers need to be rejoicing always. Today we see that the Christian mind should be gentle.

After his admonition to be rejoicing always in the Lord, Paul continues his teaching on Christian thought saying,

“Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. (Philippians 4:5)”

Paul moves straight into the teachings on gentleness. Unfortunately, the Greek word (‘epieikes’) that is translated as gentleness here really has a much larger meaning – one that is difficult to encompass with any one English word. The word more literally refers to an attitude of kindness when the expected response would be retaliation. This fits in nicely with the theme of the letter overall – joy even during persecution. Paul is fact telling us that even when people are against us we need to have a mind and attitude that is gentle and kind towards them.

In our business I believe this really applies when we face rejection. It is very hard to have someone (especially those we care about) reject something that we are passionate about, and yet this happens frequently in a home business. In fact if you are not facing rejection on a daily basis in your home business you are likely not doing enough to build your business. Rejection is a part of our industry. You get rejected when we initially present your product, business or idea and you also face rejection as people who decide to partner up with us don’t follow through on their word, drop out, or don’t want to participate as they should.

It is during these times of rejection that our minds must be extra focused on kindness and gentleness. The natural first tendency is to fight back, argue and defend our business and possibly retaliate against that person in a different area of life. Let’s say for example that one of your closest friends takes a look at your business for the first time and says that they are not interested. Your hopes had likely been up, expecting that your best friend certainly wouldn’t turn you down and yet they do. How will you respond? How will you focus your thoughts? A natural instinct might be to reject something of theirs. Possibly don’t attend the party they are planning, don’t call them for a time, or even assume that they are not really your friend. In fact I have seen some home businesses that have stated that if a friend doesn’t join your business they are not really your friend at all. This of course is rubbish.

Instead your focus towards that friend or the person who rejected you must be an attitude of kindness and gentleness. Understand that they are not rejecting you personally, rather they are rejecting a new idea probably one they don’t fully understand. The fact that they said no to your business shouldn’t impact your friendship. Don’t retaliate against them, continue to love them and care for them. This attitude of gentleness and kindness should pervade every part of your home business. Any time you feel slighted or rejected the choice is yours. You can either choose to focus your mind on regret and revenge or on gentleness and kindness. Be sure to choose the later.

In the long run, responding to rejection with gentleness and kindness will help your business. Many of the people who reject you now, may change their minds in the future. They may become some of your best customers or business builder down the road. After all, studies have shown that people need to be exposed to something an average of seven times before they will make a purchase or commitment. Maintaining an attitude of gentleness and kindness will increase the likelihood of this happening. Nothing can end the likelihood of getting future business more quickly than an improper response to rejection.

Now it might seem to you that the focus here has been on how you should act towards people rather than how you should think, but let me emphasize that actions will ALWAYS be impacted by the patterns of thought. If your mind is focused on anger and revenge but you are attempting to act kind and gentle on the outside other people will know something is up. You may fool them for a short while but that is it. Even if you fool them it will eat you up inside, and in the end our actions on the outside always match how we think on the inside.

The second half of the sentence is the key to our motivation. We are to be gentle at all times and it should be “evident to all.” This means that the real motivation is NOT for the benefit it can have to our business over time, but rather is for evangelical reasons. The real reason to be gentle is that so other people will see how a Christian responds to tough times. If people see us in a situation that would naturally be a situation where retaliation would be expected, but instead we respond with gentleness and kindness it will have a great impact on people around us. This really will be come evidence of the change in our lives that Jesus is making.

Paul ends the verse by stating that “the Lord is near”. People need to see evidence in our lives now because their will become a time when everyone will meet the Lord. And Paul describes that time is being near. Not that Paul was expecting Jesus to return the next day, but rather he understood that each of us have a time to meet the Lord, none of us know when it will be, and we will all do best for ourselves and those around us if we treat that day as being just around the corner.

So we now have step two on a Biblical explanation on how Christians should think. We can see that we should be joyful always, and that are attitude should be one of gentleness and kindness, even during periods of persecution and rejection. Remember Paul was in jail – the pinnacle of persecution and rejection and yet his focus was on joy and gentleness. Let this be your focus as you go ahead and continue to build your business day by day.

Written by:
Danny Gamache

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