Biblical Principle for Entrepreneurs: Lesson Two - Giving

Luke 6:38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

The above verse is usually quoted in the context of giving church offerings and tithes‎. However Jesus was not speaking concerning giving offerings but giving as a principle. See the bible is a manual for life even here on earth not just for when we get to heaven. I have seen Christians sometimes emulate the world's way of doing business. They seek to be given money before they can give whatever service they intend to. But this is in violation of the giving principle. It is important to note that this principle is universal i.e. it applies to everyone whether Christian or not, whether you are conscious of it or not, if you apply it you will get a requisite reward. This is why Christians sometimes question why unbelievers are wealthy. 

It Starts with Giving, Not Getting

So before you can get money, be sure of what you want to give. If you ever listened to worldly entrepreneurs they will say this regarding giving, "find something to give in value to the people, money will follow"

or "solve a human problem first and reward will surely come". This is a variation of the principle of giving. Think of the companies doing very well, they are associated with giving something then they became rich. Mark Zuckerberg gave us this platform to connect worldwide, communicate and share easily. It's a simple concept but it gave over a billion people something they needed, money could not help but run to him. Contrast this with people, whose obsession is money, all their toil is geared towards one thing, getting you to pay for something that might turn out valueless. They give out as little as possible and say pay up and we will tell you the full story which in most cases is as empty as the freebie they dished in the beginning. These people go to extraordinary lengths to make you sign up for their programs and mostly use popular figures like Robert Kiyosaki and Donald Trump on their images, you will see their sponsored posts on Facebook.

Don’t Give According to the World Standard

So don't be like the people of the world who think of money then think of giving something for the money; rather make giving your goal. You might say but Runya how can I give just like that? Well as an example, I once worked for this insurance company in Zimbabwe, my salary was not enough to cover busfare for the month I had to borrow. But I worked from 7:30am to 11pm and sometimes midnight without overtime. To people who knew me I was better off resigning. But I learnt skills that money can't buy since the work load was heavy, I became very proficient in Microsoft Excel to reduce my time at work, I learnt analytical skills to check the huge commission payroll for errors. Those skills opened a door for me in South Africa which hasn't been shut since 2007. Likewise when I began doing support for BlackBerry I was doing it for free, I just wanted to give, solve a software or hardware product. In no time BlackBerry offered me to be a VIP with device perks. Recently I took it upon to teach myself to learn how to code, I formed a group on Facebook hoping to pass on the information to a few people, the group went viral and now has over 5,000 members. Ever since I began the group I have had up to 5 innovative ideas to turn into software applications but I am not someone trained in software at all.

Make a Commitment to Give

So be about giving solutions to man's problems, if money was your obsession then repent and let go of that spirit. Your true rewards are encompassed in giving. If you think money then try to match with some giving then your goal is money not giving and this is bad. It might look harmless but you miss out on the greater things in life. God will not open a deposit account in your spirit so the type of businesses you will pursue are those already being done by a million other people where you squeeze profits. You might wonder what’s a deposit account in your spirit is. When your heart is set on giving you are fulfilling a biblical principle so God counts you among outlets of giving initiatives, in that account God deposits ideas on what and how you can give. This is why you see some people always seem an unending stream of great innovations. You can be relaxed and out of the blue an idea just suddenly appears in your head. That is the notification that a transaction took place, there is a credit from God in your deposit.

In the next post we will focus on protecting the idea.