“Treat others as you want them to treat you” – Luke 6:31, TLB
You may be a good saver, a faithful tither but if you are poor in relating to your business associates, you might still end up in penury. Theodore Roosevelt said the most important ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.
For the sake of this column, I will concentrate just on finances, but relationship affect every area of our life. God created man for relationship, the woman to keep the company of the man, and gave Abraham and Isaac servants to help them keep their fleet of businesses. Here we go:
(a) “And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s cattle and the herdsmen of Lot’s cattle: the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land.” – Gen. 13:8.
There is no doubt that we are in competitive market and you have to do everything necessary to beat your neighbour in order to generate better profit and financial strength. However, it is wrong when you have to strife to excel. Strife depict poor relationship virtue. As a Christian, you must be able to accommodate neighbours who are in the same trade like yours. If you don’t, it will foil the grace that you generated from your tithing and other financial principles you have set in place.
Two things you can do to avoid strife with people in the same business with you:
(i) Pray for them as you pray for your business. Remember, Jesus said you should treat others, as you want them to treat you. Besides, “it is the blessing of God that maketh rich.” Prov. 10:22, because there are competitors does not mean you will not make profit. The money game is divine and supernatural.
(ii) In case of strife, “withdraw” like Abraham did in Gen. 13:9. He gave Lot option to choose first. When
God sees your humility, He releases grace. You are bound to prosper.
(b) “And he spake unto Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, but if thou wilt give it, I pray thee, hear me: I will give thee money for the field; take it of me, and I will bury my dead there.
And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him, my Lord, hearken unto me; the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver; what is that betwixt me and thee? Bury therefore thy dead. And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which he had named in the audience of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant.” – Gen. 23:13-16
This is a word for you: never develop the habit of getting things free from friends. It perforates your financial credibility. Give something, no matter how small; it is an indication that you appreciate values and worth. You must not just pay for it, get a written document to show that you are in possession of the thing. Money matters matter, say a man of God. Document every particulars for the sake of the future. Faults are minimised when you are painstaking about everything.
(c) “I worked for you through the scorching heat of the day and through the cold and sleepless nights. Yes, twenty years-fourteen of them earning your two daughters, and six years to get the flock! And you have reduced my wages ten times!” – Gen. 31:40-41 TLB
The above scripture was a discussion between Jacob and his master, Laban. Laban was a miserly, self centred boss, whose concern is just for his profit. If you have a “Laban(ese)” as your boss, then you must believe God for Jacob’s grace. No matter how terrible your boss may be, endure, don’t steal, be faithful,
it will soon be over. No Jacob will remain with Laban forever. Don’t even speak evil of him, lest you sow the wrong seed.
(d) “Therefore shall we die before thine eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants unto Pharaoh; and give us seed that we may live, and not die, that the land do not desolate.
And Joseph, bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his field; because the famine prevailed over them: so the land became Pharaoh’s” – Gen. 47:19-20.
Every spirit-filled believer should learn how to bargain well and how to win in bargaining. Never allow yourself to be psyched up by your customer. It is always better to window-shop for the goods first. By so doing, you save fund and God is glorified. However, excellence demands that you should not because of price forgo quality. Excellence is not costly but expensive in terms of value. Get the value for your money.
(e) “Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabbath.” – James 5:4.
Now if you have been putting all the instructions in this column into practise, then you need to know this also. It is so salient that others judge you from this perspective; DON’T KEEP BACK THE WAGES OF YOUR STAFF. Their cry gets to the Lord of Host, faster than yours.
No matter how faithful you are with your tithe and seed pact project, keeping back the wages of your staff withdraw God’s favour from your finances.
In rounding off, do everything to believe in the abilities of people. Treat people good, work on yourself so that people can trust you with money. No man is perfect in the flesh but we all should improve on ourselves beginning from me. How you relate with people on money issues shows your true colour on all other issues.
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