Diligence
“He who has a slack hand becomes poor, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.” — Proverbs 10:4
Is righteousness enough for us to prosper in business? Have you ever wondered why unbelievers prosper while believers still lack? How diligent are you in the pursuit of your goals?
I’m often asked why those who fail to acknowledge or obey God and His Word in their pursuit of profits 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 the same level of profitability. Are we serving God in vain? Why does the unbeliever prosper while many believers struggle to achieve the financial success they desire?
Of course, the Bible is clear that we ought not to pursue God in an attempt to get rich, but rather our pursuit of Him should be purely motivated by our desire to please Him. Pleasing God allows us to enjoy His blessings, which, though they do not preclude material success, often result in far more than financial stability. In fact, material success without the blessings of God is what the Bible calls blessings with sorrows (Proverbs 10:22). We must escape the temptation to settle for such blessings with sorrows. We must teach ourselves to prefer God’s genuine blessings over the world’s false description of success.
Being right with God is a necessary component to achieving God’s well-deserved gift of material success. However, once we are right with God, we must also be diligent. Though obedience is key to gaining a right standing with God, one cannot effectively multiply God-given resources without stewardship. Proper stewardship is essential for profitability, and the key to proper stewardship is diligence. Without diligence, one’s stewardship efforts are uncoordinated, inconsistent, unfocused and incapable of producing 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
While many of us have been convicted by God and choose to no longer cheat, we sometimes slack in our diligence. We relegate our responsibility to God. I heard a truth that is worth repeating here: as believers we ought to pray as though nothing depends on us and work as though everything does. In other words, success for the believer is not just a matter of verbal obedience to God, but it also requires action on our part.
Diligence is the persistent application of effort towards a single goal. Without diligence, we cannot be fruitful. So then, how do we exercise diligence? Here are seven things to consider:
- Make sure you are in right standing with God
- Be clear of your mission
- Have clear, actionable goals
- Be focused
- Be consistent
- Finish what you start
- Evaluate your results and continue
It is God’s desire that kingdom businesses are profitable, sustainable and scalable so that His will can be advanced in the earth realm. But, for that to be accomplished we must not just seek to be holy as He is; in addition, we must always, in our holiness, be effective stewards by exercising diligence in His business.
My prayer for you today is that God will grant you the grace to diligently pursue the goals and challenges that He has called you to, so that you may receive the blessings of God, which makes us rich without sorrow.
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