Diligence

He who has a slack hand becomes poor but the hand of the diligent makes rich. – Proverbs 10:4

I am often asked, why those who do not seem to acknowledge God nor obey the word of God in their pursuit of profit seem to prosper, while many who confess Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and seek to please Him in their lives often do not enjoy a comparable level of profitability.  Are we serving God in vain?  Why does the unbeliever prosper while many believers do not seem to achieve the financial success they desire?

Of course the bible is clear that we ought not to pursue God because of our desire to get rich, but rather our pursuit of God should be purely motivated by our desire to please Him.  Pleasing God allows us to be positioned to enjoy the blessings of God. This does not preclude material success, but it is far more than material success.  Having material success without the blessings of God is what the bible calls blessings with sorrows.’   We must be persuaded that we do not want these types of blessings, and in fact, we must even prefer to be in lack with God’s blessings then have plenty without His blessings.  Keep in mind that being right with God is not the only requirement necessary to achieve material success. We must also be diligent stewards. Why is this so? Obedience is the key to being right with God, and without following God’s stewardship principles; one cannot multiply what God puts into our control. Proper stewardship is essential for profitability in order to multiply.  Proper stewardship is only attained through diligence.  Without diligence our stewardship efforts are uncoordinated, inconsistent, unfocused and do not yield the necessary results to accumulate material success.

The hand of the diligent will rule, But the lazy man will be put to forced labor. Proverbs 12:24

The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing; But the soul of the diligent shall be made rich. Proverbs 13:4

The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty, But those of everyone who is hasty, surely to poverty. Proverbs 21:5

Diligence and in some cases a little cheating is the key to the financial success of the unbeliever.  While many of us convicted by God choose no longer to cheat, we sometimes slack in our diligence.  It seems as though we relegate our responsibility to God rather than owning our success.  The unbeliever (since he is either not conscious of God’s existence or chooses not to acknowledge Him) completely depends on himself, thereby exercising a greater level of diligence.  I heard a truth that is worthy of stating here, “as believers we ought to pray as though nothing depends on us, and work as though everything depends on us.”  In other words, success for the believer is not just a matter of obedience to God, but it also requires effort on our part.

Diligence is the persistent application of efforts towards a single goal.  Without diligence, we cannot be fruitful.  How do we exercise diligence?

1.     Make sure you are in right standing with God

2.     Be clear in your mission

3.     Have clear actionable goals

4.     Be focused

5.     Be consistent

6.     Finish what you start

7.     Evaluate your results

It is God’s desire that kingdom businesses are profitable, sustainable and scalable so that His will can be advanced in the earthly realm. For that to be accomplished, we must not only seek to be Holy as He is, but we must always, in our pursuit of holiness, be effective stewards through the demonstration of diligence in His business.