3 By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; 4 through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures. 5 The wise prevail through great power, and those who have knowledge muster their strength. (Proverbs 24:3-5)
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Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Thanks for tuning in to GLOBAL REACHOUT. I am Sister Angelie, and starting from November, we have launched the program called the "Kingdom Business Culture". This program is based on the workplace training course by GLOBAL JIREH entitled, "Christ-centred Entrepreneurship". This course was compiled by Pastor Tony TAY Meng Hiang to help brothers and sisters live out Christ in the workplace.
We encourage brothers and sisters to sign up for this course, so that they will not only have the opportunity to communicate directly with the instructors, but also establish long-term and close contacts with the kingdom business operators in the group, learn from each other and encourage one another, and put the theory into practice. Living out Christ in the workplace. For those who are interested, you can refer to the end of the manuscript and register by email.In today's program, we are going to talk about the establishment of the enterprise system.
Building a business is like building a house. Proverbs 24:3 tells us: Houses are built with wisdom...In life, people make decisions to build their houses according to their needs, and to size them according to their needs - this is the level of strategy. Building an enterprise system is similar. We need to wisely set up an enterprise according to the development of the situation, and decide the size of the scale according to the development of the situation. Next, Proverbs 24:3 says: through understanding it is established.. This means that the builder of a house needs to have the knowledge to manage resources to build it in the most efficient and safe way - this is at implementation level. Similarly, when we are committed to establishing the management system of the enterprise, we also need to wisely decide our specific operation method according to the strategy to make it meet the needs of the enterprise. Only under a clear, detailed and orderly management system can our three resources—namely time, talent and money, be integrated and fully utilized. Only in this way can our mission be realized.
Next, let's look at the three major resources the Bible teaches us to manage: time, talent, and money.
Let’s start with the most important resource – time. In Luke 12:35-40, Jesus commanded his disciples to be vigilant, like a servant dressed ready for service and keep the lamps burning, waiting for his master to return from a wedding feast. As soon as the master knocks on the door, the servant opens the door immediately. This shows that the servants are not slack, but are working. When the master arrives home, he sees that the servants are so vigilant that they are not slack and wasting time, and these servants are blessed. Next, in Luke 12:41-48, the Lord Jesus said again that the master should appoint a faithful and wise steward to manage his servants. A servant must do what his master wants—that’s faithfulness, and that’s insight—that’s wisdom, so he doesn’t make mistakes and get punished for ignorance. We can seize business opportunities from God when we imitate the vigilant servants and are ready at all times; and the way to prepare is to be faithful in our duties—faithfulness, combined with knowledgeable duties—wisdom. Yes, wisdom can save a lot of time, but only with loyalty. Ephesians 5:16 mentions: making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Another translation of "making the most of every opportunity " is "to seize the moment". Here is a reminder that in this evil age, many things can distract us and cause us to miss opportunities. Psalm 90:12 says: Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Both passages remind us—to manage our time well. What kind of management? Enterprises need to establish a sound workflow analysis and management, and integrate teams at key stages, which is a necessary condition for a time management system.
Next, let's look at the second greatest resource God has given us: talents. Matthew 25:14-30 says that the master gave his servants silver according to their abilities, and some received five thousand, two thousand, and one thousand. Servants who received five thousand and two thousand earned double the profit of their masters, and their masters praised them as faithful and good servants—they were talented and good-hearted, willing to think for the good of their masters; they were faithful servants, obeying the master's command. In stark contrast, the servant who received the one thousand buried it in the ground, and the master said he was evil and lazy—he was talented, but evil in his heart, and had no intention of making money for his master; and he was lazy and did not obey his master instructed to make excuses for their actions.
Brothers and sisters, this parable of the Lord Jesus reminds us that a good, faithful man will use his talents to serve others. Loyalty enables people to focus on their talents, and the premise of serving God and serving people is a good heart. In business operations, after we recruit the right people, the talent management system includes three aspects of work: discovery, development and utilization. We must discover the talents of our employees, help them develop their talents continuously through various trainings, and provide a platform to encourage employees to utilize their talents. Remember, Christian entrepreneurs: an environment full of truth and grace is most conducive to the development and development of talents. Our company should equip employees with truth, remove fear through love, and enable employees to develop their talents in an environment full of truth and grace. For an enterprise, a complete and effective training system and a team with different talents matching each other are the necessary conditions for a talent management system.
Finally, let's look at the third resource God has given us: money. Luke 16:1-13 records a parable spoken by the Lord Jesus—an unrighteous steward was dismissed by his master, and in order to make a way for himself, he generously gave ‘’discount’’ to his master’s debtors, so that they can pay less debt, in order to buy people's hearts. When the master knew about this, he praised the unjust steward for his shrewdness, because he knew how to make friends with money.
Of course, this passage also reminds us that if we are unfaithful in unrighteous money, like this unrighteous steward, no one will want to entrust our money to us. What we want to stress here, however, is that the first step to proper money management for Christians is to develop a biblical view of money. There are people in this world who use relationships in exchange for material things, and some people who use material things in exchange for relationships. The parable of Luke 16:1-13 reminds us that “exchanging material things for relationships” is the biblical view of money. Only when we use money to bless people, the use of money is valuable, and love makes the use of money in place. Of course, the parable of the unrighteous steward also reminds us that as stewards, loyalty is the first and foremost, and loyalty is the prerequisite for blessing people. Jesus also reminds us in the scriptures that we need to be faithful in the little things before we can be faithful in the big things. In an enterprise, a transparent management system and a clear accountability system are necessary conditions for a financial management system.
All in all, the formation of an enterprise system requires a strategy, and its structure is determined according to the development of the situation; at the same time, it is necessary to implement the strategy and know how to manage time, talent and money in the easiest, most effective and fastest way. In the time management system, we need to be insightful, but we need to be loyal; in the talent management system, we need to be loyal, but we need to be good; in the money management system, we need to be good, but loyalty is required. A sound corporate system combines a sound process analysis, an effective training system, and transparent money management.
Dear friends, this is where we end today's episode. I hope to see you again on the next episode of Kingdom Business Culture!
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Discussion
1. What measures can help improve the analysis and management of the company's work process, thereby improving the efficiency of your enterprise?
2. In actual work, have you ever encountered a situation in which employees cannot have both "loyalty" and "talent"? How did you choose? Why?
3. Think about the three resources of time, talent, and money at hand, and reflect on whether your allocation of these resources is in line with God’s will according to the vision.