When I think about my business, it’s my heart and desire that it be approached from a place of service and love. These characteristics don’t just happen to be paired together; they were intentionally chosen because they are two qualities of Jesus. As a joyful follower of Jesus, I am continually being sanctified every day to become a little bit more like him.The point is that over time, my character is being molded to reflect that of Jesus. That means I can make mistakes and I’ll learn along the way, but throughout it all my heart is experiencing a shift. This concept is incredibly important as it gives us the opportunity to choose to reflect Jesus more and more every day. This can happen for you, too!

Not only was Jesus the only perfect person to walk this Earth, but He was also the only perfect entrepreneur. There are so many desirable characteristics of Jesus that I strive to reflect in the ways that I operate my business. Some of these traits include humility, generosity, joy, prayerfulness, and confidence. Over the next several weeks,  I’m so excited to start a series all about the image of Christ, and how we can reflect His light into our businesses as entrepreneurs. We will dig into a new characteristic in each post, and uncover how we can reflect it in our own businesses.

For 20+ years of his life, Jesus served as a Carpenter in His father’s business. It’s important to note that Jesus was a businessman before ever becoming a teacher. Once he began to teach and share the Good News, people had a hard time viewing him as anything but a carpenter. This is significant because it’s a testament to how strong of a businessman he was in the community. Mark 6:3 NLT indicates that people had a hard time recognizing him as a teacher:

“Then they scoffed, ‘He’s just a carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon. And his sisters live right here among us.’ They were deeply offended and refused to believe in him.”

Clearly he was doing something right as a business owner! Just like you and me, Jesus dealt with cranky customers, worked through customer service issues and continually perfected his craft. He began as an apprentice as he was commonly referred to as the “carpenter’s son”, but became the carpenter as was referenced later on on the scripture. We all start somewhere; just as we are sanctified through Christ, over time our businesses can ultimately reflect the light of Christ more brightly & boldly as well. There is so much to be learned about the character of Jesus, and how those qualities can lead to serving your clients with grace in a successful business. Ready to dig in?

Questions to consider:

1. How would Jesus’ ministry have been different had he not been an entrepreneur first?
2. How does knowing that Jesus was the only perfect entrepreneur change the way that you approach entrepreneurship?
3. How is God calling you to serve as an entrepreneur?

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