How to Run an Online Business Keeping God at the Center
Hey Friend!
Have you ever wondered what it means to run a God-centered business? How do you practically have God at the center of your life and business? If you are a Christian entrepreneur wanting to ensure you are running a God-led business, this blog is for you! Today I go over four principles to focus on to help you run a business with God at the center.
4 Tips to Run Your Business with God at the Center as a Christian Entrepreneur!
What are you centering your life on?
The truth is everyone’s life has a center. Now your center can be yourself or God. Our center is what we are on more than anything else. So, what is the center of your life? What are you focusing the most on? Is it yourself, your emotions, your marriage, your business, or is it, God? I know we go through seasons and phases, and this is difficult, but we must continuously keep bringing ourselves back to have a center focused on God. Not only should you keep God at the center of your life, but, He also needs to be the center of every facet of your life. What is the center of your marriage, motherhood, health, and business? We want the answer to be a resounding JESUS!
Before we begin, we need to inventory if Jesus is at the center of everything in our lives. If He isn’t, how can we practice, pray and lean into Him becoming the center? We’ve got to be willing for God to be the center and make those changes if He isn’t.
If God is at the center of your life, here are four tips to help ensure and maintain He stays at the center of your business.
1. Keep God at the center of your business by ensuring your business is kingdom focused.
Why are you doing what you’re doing? Titus 3:8 says, “I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people.”
So, why are you doing what you are doing? Are you doing it for good?
It says for those of you who believe in God, be careful to devote yourselves to good works, go ahead and devote yourself to this call, purpose, and business you’ve created with God. Then it says, these things are excellent and profitable for people – it’s helpful to the people you’ve been called to serve. It helps them grow, get better, and gain knowledge.
It also helps show them who Jesus is because you are an extension of that, a light of the world, simply by being a believer. So as you show up in your business, you’ve got to stay kingdom focused. You’re not doing this business for yourself to make money or grow leads or your email list. You’re doing your business for the glory of God, which is to help people. That’s it! We are here to glorify God by showing up in goodness for good works for the goodness of His people.
The other piece of being kingdom focused is constantly asking yourself, does the choice or decision further the kingdom of God? Does me waiting further the kingdom of God? You want to be kingdom-focused; every decision is focused on God at the center.
2. To run a business with God at the center, you must be led by the Holy Spirit.
To run a God-centered business, you must be led by the Holy Spirit. We cannot be led by our flesh and run a godly business. We can’t be run by ourselves, by what we want or think, or by controlling or forcing outcomes. This is not easy! We have to shift the balance from flesh forward to Holy Spirit forward.
A verse that is so beautiful and relevant is Proverbs 20:27, “The spirit of a man is the candle of the Lord.” If you want to be led by the Lord, the spirit inside of you, the Holy Spirit, is the light, flame, and way.
3. Running a God-centered business means you have a generous heart
Thirdly, running a God-centered business means you have a generous heart, a spirit, or a posture of generosity. It is super important and may make you uncomfortable, but the reality is scripture calls us to generosity.
Proverbs 3:9 says, “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops.”
Romans 12:1 says, “I urge you, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true and proper worship.”
There are so many verses in the bible that talk about giving. Giving is called to be of your finances, particularly the first fruits, the first and best of you. You are also called to give of yourself, the way you worship, in all that you have, and all that you are back to the Lord. We have to have a posture of generosity if we are going to have a God-centered business because that is the entire point.
We are training here on earth to reign for the next new earth and for eternity. We’ve got to learn how to shepherd the people we are meant to lead, how to be more like Jesus, and how to weather trials. You have to learn how to become stronger through these trials and tribulations, so you’re equipped for what’s coming.
One of those resistances we have as humans is not giving, hoarding, converting, or grasping tightly. But, we are called to release, relinquish, give and have this spirit of generosity. Remember, nothing we have here now is ours anyway; it doesn’t move forward into heaven with us. So why not have the spirit of giving to bless other people – giving with our time, finances, and knowledge?
4. Keep God at the center of your business by doing what is right vs. what is right for now.
Fourthly, do what is right versus what is right for now. What’s good for right now might be panicking, trying to control things, throwing spaghetti at the wall, and repurposing 27 million different places.
In a previous episode, I talk about how God convicted my company and me to stop using Instagram (check it out here). I was using Instagram because it was good for right now; I had someone on the team who could do it, and I was pushing for a million downloads, so why not, God? I was twisting what was right for me, what God had spoken over my life a year ago when He asked me to lay down Instagram. He didn’t mean lay down Instagram; He meant LAY. IT. DOWN. COMPLETELY! As a company, you’re done posting over there. And I had to choose to do what was right versus what was right for now.
Let God lead your business
You’ve got to make long-term choices in your business. You’ve got to stop focusing on the pain and hurt of this isn’t working, or I’m not making money and frantically searching and striving for answers – forcing, pushing, and chasing after the promise. Relinquish that control. Do what’s right: let God lead, not panicking and resting in His promise. Allowing God to show up for you and walk beside you until He makes good on the call and vision He has so graciously given you.
Keeping God at the center of your business and life is one of the best and most challenging decisions. Following God’s call to be generous and obedient, staying kingdom-focused, and having that long-term perspective is tough, but it’s worth it. Seeking the kingdom of God makes you open to spiritual attack from the Enemy, so stay alert! But by leaning harder into your faith and keeping focused on Jesus, you can defeat the Enemy! Get into scripture and know God, learn to lean into Him for all wisdom and guidance, keep God at the center of it all, and you’ll never go wrong.
I pray this blesses you!
Xo,
Stef
P.S. Also, listen to podcast episode 541 for the full training on How to Run a God-Centered Business.
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