“Faith is essential in your success. Faith is needed in almost every area of our lives: work, projects, and small business endeavors,” – Alex Cook
When Adolf Dassler returned home to Germany after the First World War, he started tinkering with the shoes his father brought home from the shoe factory and the spikes that came from the Zehlein brothers’ blacksmith shop. Adi, as he was called, fastened hand-made spikes to the soles of the shoes, which provided better traction to runners compared to plain, flat, soles.
With the support of his family, Adi started a shoe business that catered to athletes all over Germany. When the 1928 Olympics came, Adi saw a golden opportunity to showcase his sports shoes to the rest of the world. Eventually, Adi Dassler renamed his company “Adidas” after his own name.
Adi saw a possibility with shoes that has never been seen or attempted before. With creativity, innovation, and hard work, he pioneered the business for sports shoes and sports apparel in the world.
God created us in His image and likeness (Genesis 1:27). He gave us the instinct to create. God saw to it that His creation was good and served His purpose. In the same way, we must be intentional in the possibilities we seek as we innovate and grow our business.
God calls us to become good stewards of His creation. God entrusted the whole earth to Adam and Eve, calling them to watch over His creation (Gen 2:15). When we are considering new business possibilities we must consider how they would affect the current products, services, and relationships we are already responsible for. No business venture should compromise our stewardship of what God has entrusted to us.
God calls us to grow and multiply (Genesis 9:7). He gave us the gift of assigning value to all things when He told Adam to name the beasts in the garden (Genesis 2:20). While the market is a manmade invention it is still under God’s lordship and dominion. The market is a system that creates, cultivates, and distributes value through processes and human interaction. God gave us the intellect and the capacity to maximize the resources He has given us towards growth and multiplication. God desires for us to be fruitful.
We must examine the opportunities that come our way and test whether they serve God’s creative intention for our business. Choose opportunities that will allow you to be fruitful in terms of growth, contribution to the community, and supplying solutions to peoples’ needs, and not merely in profits.
Are all things possible in business? Sure. But are all things beneficial? Definitely not.
In a society obsessed with relativism and where “anything goes,” it is important to stay grounded in God’s word. You will be faced with business decisions wherein the right path is not obvious. While all opportunities are permissible, they are not all beneficial (1 Corinthians 10:23). Sometimes, the wrong decisions could be masked as grand possibilities.
There will never be a shortage of possibilities when your heart for your business beats after God’s own. Remember to make God the center of your business.
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