Priorities of a Godly Christian Businesswoman

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There are other important issues that take up our time and attention. Where  does the family fit into our roles as godly businesswomen? God places tremendous  value on the family is which has often been acknowledged as one of the “building  blocks” of society. Successful families are vital to the health of any nation.  The woman described in Proverbs 31 is able to focus not only on her busines, but also on her home.

“She watches over the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of  idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he  praises her” (Prov. 31:27). Just as a material house does not come together  by accident, but by design, so it is with our families. The following principles  will enable us to build successful homes.

By Godly wisdom

Proverbs 14 says: ” A wise woman builds her home”. How do we become wise? The  Bible says that wisdom is freely available from God. “If any of you lacks  wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and  it will be given to him” (James 1:5).

As businesswomen, it can sometimes be difficult for us to find the balance between business and home life. There are business decisions to make, pressures to bear and conferences to attend all of which can sometimes consume both our time and our minds.

Sometimes we take work home. Even when we run our businesses from our homes we may find that there is no clear demarcation between home and business life.  With modern day pressures, where the woman is expected to make a financial contribution towards the family purse, this pressure becomes all the more real.  So what do we do? In some cases, it might be a case of managing our time better but in most cases, it’s about asking the Lord for wisdom.

We need to examine ourselves to determine whether our business lives are having a negative impact on our family lives. Are our spouses and friends complaining? Are the children expressing a wish to see us more? Do we find ourselves thinking about work when we should be attending to the family’s needs?  If the answer to any of the above is yes, then we may need to take a step back, pray and ask God for wisdom. We have probably got our priorities wrong at this stage. We need to act immediately because God should be glorified in our homes.

However, we also need to recognize that sometimes, there are seasons when we do need to take time out to accomplish things. However, this should not be a regular occurrence. We must not allow the enemy to creep into our homes while we are looking after our businesses.

Laying our foundations on the Rock means ruling our homes with the word of God. Are we blessing, applying, confessing and ministering to our homes with the word of God? Are we seeing the power of the word in our homes? We must not let the word of God rule only in our businesses. We should ask the Lord for the type of home that will glorify Him.

Marriage has responsibilities attached to it. The wife must co-operate with the husband in fulfilling their responsibilities so that the house can be sustained. The Christian businesswoman, no matter how successful she is in business must be willing to receive her husband’s ordained authority. She must honor her husband and maintain a meek and gentle spirit. She is to be a complement to her husband.

The woman characterized in Proverbs 31 is a commendable wife and mother who are industrious, self-disciplined, orderly, charitable, given to hospitality and lives for her home and family. She is a woman of virtue because she is spiritually minded and she takes her home seriously. The Godly businesswoman can achieve all these things and the grace of God is available to achieve this. We should not let our businesses stop you from becoming this woman.

The amount of time that we spend with the family, our spouses in particular, is proportional to the quality of our family relationships. We have to make a conscious effort to spend time with them unless it is unavoidable and even then it has to be for a season. As soon as this period is over, we should make sure that we focus back on your priority (See 1 Corinthians 7:5).

While we have focused primarily on the married Christian businesswoman, the same principles apply to single women. If you are unmarried, you can still make yourself a Proverbs 31 woman by being responsible for either your natural or spiritual family. Take your focus off your business and on to other things.

It is the principles you learn while you are still single that you will apply into the married life (if that is your desire). Bless those of the household of God and care for the things of God. “The unmarried woman cares about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy in body and spirit” (1 Cor. 7:34). Give the Lord the level of devotion you would give to your family. As we put these principles into practice, may the Lord cause us to walk in His will and bring glory to His name.

About Author: Ola Aroyehun is the editor of ‘The Christian Business Magazine’ – a magazine dedicated to applying biblical truths to the world of business. She has a desire to see Christians be ‘students’ of the word and not just ‘readers of the world’.  Want to know more about how to run a Christian Business, why not sign up for  our weekly newsletter. You can sign up at http://www.christianbusinessonthenet.com