March 12, 2025 • 33 mins
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Navigating the business world as a Christian leader requires more than just professional acumen—it demands spiritual vigilance against the temptations that can compromise our faith and integrity. In this compelling episode, Harold Milby identifies the ten most dangerous temptations facing Christian business leaders today and provides powerful biblical strategies to overcome them.
Standing on the foundation of 1 Corinthians 10:13, Milby reminds us that God always provides a way of escape from temptation. From dishonesty and ethical compromise to neglecting our spiritual lives and falling prey to pride, each temptation presents unique challenges in professional settings. The episode offers practical wisdom for maintaining truthfulness in all business dealings, making decisions based on biblical principles rather than worldly standards, and protecting our personal and spiritual lives amid demanding careers.
Particularly insightful are Milby's strategies for combating the subtle temptations that often go unnoticed—the tendency to surround ourselves with yes-people who never challenge our thinking, the creeping influence of materialism that prioritizes profit over people, and the paralyzing effects of fear that prevent bold, faith-driven leadership. Drawing from scripture and years of business experience, he demonstrates how Christian leaders can transform potential stumbling blocks into stepping stones for spiritual growth and professional excellence.
Whether you're leading a Fortune 500 company, managing a department, or simply seeking to honor God in your workplace, this episode provides the biblical perspective and practical tools needed to stand firm against temptation while influencing others for God's glory. As Milby powerfully concludes, Christian business leaders are called to be lights in the marketplace—demonstrating integrity, faith and servant leadership that honors God and inspires others to do the same.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to the Christian Business Concepts with
your host, Harold Milby.
Christian Business Concepts isdedicated to guiding companies
and business owners in becomingeffective, efficient and
successful through God's Wordand godly principles.
Now, here's your host, HaroldMilby.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Thank you, kelly, and welcome everyone to this week's
Christian Business Conceptspodcast.
I'm your host, harold Milby,and I'm so very glad that you
downloaded this podcast.
If you're a regular listener,you know that I strive for each
podcast to encourage you, toenlighten you and to empower you
.
To encourage you, to enlightenyou and to empower you.
(00:44):
You know we have a very simplevision here at CBC and that is
we want to help business owners,business leaders,
organizational leaders,department managers and leaders
and other people help find truegodly success by applyinglying
Biblical Principles, and youknow that's something that we're
(01:08):
serious about.
That's what we're about, andplease help us to grow the CBC
family, would you, by sharingthis podcast with four or five
others and by putting thispodcast link on your Facebook
and your LinkedIn page.
You know, this week I reallywant to give a big shout out to
(01:29):
Paris, france, for having somany downloads.
Thank you.
Thank you the fine people ofFrance.
We just are so appreciativethat you are tuning in to the
Christian Business Conceptspodcast each week.
Thank you so much and thanks toall of you who download this
podcast and for those thatlisten regularly.
(01:50):
We are so thankful and we hopethat those of you in Paris are
blessed as well as we do withothers, by listening that you're
blessed by listening to the CBCpodcast.
We want to be here to help andencourage and to serve, and you
know that's what we're trying todo every single week through
(02:13):
the podcast and through otherministries.
Now I want to talk today.
You know, I think we allunderstand that Christian
business leaders are called toreally uphold integrity and
righteousness andChrist-centered leadership in
(02:35):
their professional endeavors andin their personal lives as well
.
Now, saying that, I alsobelieve that navigating this
corporate world that we live intoday and the challenges in our
personal lives, I believe thatthey present various temptations
(02:57):
that can really compromise ourfaith and our values.
Today, I want to talk aboutsome of the common temptations
that we may face as a leader,and maybe even as a person, and
provide some biblical strategiesto overcome them.
I believe this will help ensurethat you remain steadfast
(03:23):
steadfast as in your Christianwalk, while you continue to lead
, not just as a good leader, butyou lead with excellence, and I
truly believe that thesetemptations are very common, but
these are the top 10 that Ifeel like that you, as a leader,
(03:45):
or even as a person will face.
But before we get into those,let me lay a groundwork, a
foundation for you.
So 1 Corinthians 10, 13 says notemptation has overtaken you.
That is not common to man.
God is faithful and he will notlet you be tempted beyond your
(04:06):
ability, but with the temptationhe will also provide the way of
escape that you may be able tobear it.
So it's really important tounderstand a couple of things.
Number one, that there's notemptation that you may face
that.
Other people haven't faced italready and have been victorious
(04:29):
, and some have failed, but it'snot uncommon.
So understand that.
Then, secondly, understand thatGod is faithful and he will not
let you be tempted beyond yourability, but with the temptation
he will make a way of escapethat you can bear it, so that
(04:52):
you can endure it.
So it's not that God will never.
You know, oh, I can't handlethis temptation, so the Lord
takes it away from you.
What this passage is saying isthat in every temptation God
will provide a way to endure it,as this passage says.
(05:12):
Now, if you go on to Hebrews,chapter 4 and verse 15, it says
for we do not have a high priestwho is unable to sympathize
with our weaknesses, but one who, in every respect, has been
tempted as we are, yet withoutsin.
So understand that Jesus, ourSavior, was tempted.
The Bible even talks about howhe was taken out into the
(05:34):
wilderness and was tempted ofthe devil for 40 days and 40
nights, and so you know thosetemptations that he faced were
very real.
They were very real and veryserious, and Jesus endured those
(05:55):
temptations and he overcamethem.
Now you'll remember those.
He always answered Satan withScripture, with what the Word of
God said, and that's what Jesusdid and that's how he overcame
the temptations.
So the Word of God, the Bible,is very important to you as
you're working through thesetimes of temptations and you
(06:17):
want to make sure that you stayin the Word.
James 1, 13-14 says Let no onesay when he is tempted, I am
being tempted by God, for Godcannot be tempted with evil and
he himself tempts no one, buteach person is tempted when he
is lured and enticed by his owndesire.
(06:41):
So, again, another point torealize is that most temptations
come from an unbridled desirethat you may have that you don't
recognize even.
And so let's look at these top10.
The first one is the temptationof dishonesty.
(07:03):
You know, lying about financialreports or misleading your
customers, or maybe cutting someethical corners, we'll say, or
just being dishonest with others, with your friends, with your
family.
You know the biblicalperspective is this Proverbs 11
(07:25):
and 1 says the Lord detestsdishonest scales, but accurate
weights find favor with him.
And then in Colossians 3 and 9,it says Do not lie to each
other, since you have taken offyour old self with its practices
.
So again, you know he's talkingabout dishonesty and God hates
(07:48):
dishonesty.
He really does.
And so you want to make surethat you do everything you can
to apply these principles, whichone is to commit to being very
transparent, very truthful inall of your business dealings
and to establish some kind of asystem of accountability within
(08:11):
your organization, within yourdepartment.
And then you want to make sureto seek some wise counsel from
Christian professionals, makesure that maybe you have an
accountability partner thathelps you with that.
You know this is a temptationthat can be so easy to slip into
(08:32):
just small little things,because it's the little things
that eventually allow you tobecome so numb to it that then
you're dishonest about a lot ofbig things.
So number two is the temptationof compromise in your
decision-making, makingdecisions based on worldly
(08:53):
standards instead of biblicalprinciples.
Andrew Carnegie said strong mendon't compromise and it is said
, and principles should never becompromised.
So he understood one of theall-time successful business
people in our country, in theUnited States.
(09:16):
In all of the time that thisUnited States has been here,
dale Carnegie was extremelysuccessful and he understood
this compromise ofdecision-making.
You don't want to makedecisions based on a worldly
standard.
You want to get your standardsfrom the Word of God and you
(09:40):
want to hold true to those.
You don't want to compromisethose the Bible says in Romans
12,.
It says do not conform to thepattern of this world, but be
transformed by the renewing ofyour mind.
So you want to make sure thatyour mind is right.
You want to make sure you'rethinking right and that your
thoughts are based uponscriptural principles.
(10:03):
Joshua 24, 15 says but as forme and my household, we will
serve the Lord.
There was no compromise there.
So seek wisdom.
Seek wisdom through prayer,through Bible reading, before
you make decisions and thensurround yourself with really
godly people and godly mentorsand then make sure that you
(10:28):
establish company policies,department policies, that
reflect biblical values.
So that's number two.
Number three the temptation ofneglecting your personal and
spiritual life.
That's really easy to do whenyou're a professional and you're
(10:48):
trying to do everything you canto bring success, and it's
really easy to forget about yourpersonal life, your family,
your physical being and alsoyour spiritual life.
We get so busy, we get socaught up and I encourage you,
every morning, take at least 15minutes to 30 if you can, before
(11:11):
you start your day.
Maybe have a daily devotionalthat you read, some scriptures,
that you read and have somethingthat you do every morning that
includes reading the Word of Godand praying and meditating on
that Word.
You don't have to start tryingto do something for an hour or
two hours a day.
Start with doing 10 minutes aday, 15, 20.
(11:33):
Start that way.
And how do you overcome that?
Well, keep in mind, keep inmind.
You know.
Mark 8, 36 says what good is itfor someone to gain the whole
world yet forfeit their soul?
Matthew 6, 33 says but seek yefirst the kingdom and his
(11:55):
righteousness and all of thesethings will be given to you as
well.
So it's important for us to notneglect our personal life and
especially our spiritual life aswell.
Listen, if you're married, youhave a family.
If you're not married, youstill more than likely have a
family.
So you don't want to neglectyour family, you don't want to
(12:18):
work so much that you justneglect your family.
And you don't want to neglectyour physical body.
You want to make sure you takecare of yourself, you want to
exercise, you want to eat right.
So don't allow that temptationof you neglecting your personal
and spiritual life to take holdof you.
Schedule Make sure you scheduletime, block time out for prayer
(12:42):
and Bible study and evenworship, and make sure you
maintain this work-life balance,one that would really, I would
say, honor God and honor yourfamily.
So set some boundaries toprevent your work from
overtaking, overshadowing yourfamily and your spiritual growth
(13:06):
.
Make sure you do that.
Your family and your spiritualgrowth.
Make sure you do that, allright.
Number five is the temptation ofpride and arrogance.
You know I was sharing in amessage the other day that I was
preaching from the church thatI go to and the pastor had asked
me to fill in for him.
(13:27):
He was out of town and I wassharing.
Today, the difference between aboldness and arrogance and
boldness is, you know, a godlyboldness has to do with who we
are in God and who God is.
But arrogance is centeredaround us personally and I
(13:56):
believe that pride is thattemptation to take personal
credit for success, forforgetting that all those
talents and opportunities andthe achievements are gifts from
God, and it just really can leadto arrogance and you alienate
yourself from other people andthen you begin to have this
sense of self-sufficiency thatyou can do it all, and that
distances you from God and yourfaith.
(14:17):
You know Leo Tolstoy said onetime.
He said an arrogant personconsiders himself perfect.
This is the chief harm ofarrogance.
It interferes with a person'smain task in life and that is
becoming a better person.
So it's important because youknow you can have consequences
(14:41):
of pride and arrogance and someof those consequences is you'll
have a strained relationshipwith employees or maybe partners
or clients.
You create this culture of fearor competition instead of
collaboration.
There's a spiritual disconnectthat you'll experience from
God's guidance.
(15:02):
So make sure that you rememberto stay humble.
Remember that God says in James4, 6, he said God opposes the
proud heart but shows favor tothe humble.
So acknowledge that your skillsremember, acknowledge it out of
your mouth and say thank you,lord, for the skills you've
given me, for the opportunitiesthat are blessings to me, and so
(15:25):
then regularly expressthankfulness to God and to those
even other people who havehelped contribute to your
success.
And then be sure to followChrist's example by leading with
a servant's heart andprioritizing the needs of other
people above your own, otherpeople above your own and then
(15:46):
publicly recognize some of yourteam's contributions maybe in
meetings or maybe in somecompany communications, emails
or what have you and then starteach day with prayer, a prayer
of thankfulness and asking Godto keep you humble.
You know, mentor other peopleand share credit.
(16:06):
You know for their successes.
Other people and share creditfor their successes, all right.
Number five greed andmaterialism.
We see that all the time, greedis this insatiable desire for
wealth, for possessions or power, and a lot of times, more often
than not, it can be at theexpense of even ethics and
(16:28):
ethical considerations.
It can lead to decisions thatprioritize profit over people
and purpose, and so you have tokeep greed in check.
Materialism you have to keepthat in check, keep it at bay,
because it'll create a lot ofunethical business practices,
(16:48):
such as you begin to cut corners, you exploit workers, you
create this culture that'sfocused solely on financial gain
and you don't think about anemployee's well-being, you begin
to experience a spiritualemptiness because you have all
these material pursuits, andthose material pursuits will
(17:09):
overshadow your faith.
So what do we do?
Well, according to Philippians4, 11 through 12, you've got to
be willing to be content.
You know, paul embraces thisteaching to be content in all
circumstances, to be intent inall circumstances and then be
generous, give freely to others,reflect God's generosities,
(17:37):
make some good ethical decisions, make sure you commit to
choices that line up withChristian values, that line up
with the Word of God, even ifthey don't seem to be as
profitable, but that's what youwant to do.
So set your personal andcompany giving goals, such as
tithing, maybe a portion of yourprofits to charity or
(18:02):
supporting worthy causes.
But have goals, have givinggoals and ones that other people
in your organization see andunderstand and can get behind.
But they see that generosity.
And you can do that bysupporting employees to
volunteer or maybe to give tocertain charities or certain
(18:34):
charitable initiatives, you know.
So make sure that you do thesethings.
Number six the temptation forlust and immorality.
You know, lust and immoralitycan manifest, for example, in
just not having a properrelationship with people, a
(18:55):
misuse of power or isolation.
And this temptation is very,very potent.
You know, romans 13 and 14 saysbut put on the Lord, jesus
Christ, and make no provisionfor the flesh to gratify its
desires.
And that's what it is.
It's just a desire to pleasureyour flesh, whether it be some
(19:19):
type of sexual type oftemptation or an improper
relationship or an improperrelationship.
You know you begin to havethese broken relationships and
families because of it.
I've seen it multiple times inpeople's lives A loss of
credibility and respect.
(19:40):
And you've taken your wholelife to build that.
Why throw it away, you know?
And you'll have spiritual guiltover it and you'll begin to
feel this separation from Godbecause you're building this
wall created by lust andimmorality.
So you've got to be very, verycareful and so you've got to
(20:00):
commit to living a life thathonors God, designed for
relationships.
Set some boundaries, make sureyou have clear professional and
personal boundaries to avoid anykind of compromising situations
.
I've always made it a habit Ido not meet alone with women.
(20:23):
I just don't do that.
I just will not meet alone withwomen.
And if they demand that, then Itell them they have to find
somebody else to talk to.
I'm not going to compromise inthat arena.
It is too easy for eithersomething to be said or somebody
look at it and it not lookright.
And I, according to the Bible,I'm going to stay away from even
(20:46):
the appearance of evil.
So make sure that you do that,and that just is important and
use accountability and regularcheck-ins, maybe with a mentor,
and foster this workplace thatpromotes respect and
(21:07):
professionalism.
You know, because you want tostay away from those types of
lustful opportunities that mayarise All right.
Number seven the temptation ofanger and resentment.
You know anger and resentmentcan just arise out of conflicts.
You know they could besomething that you perceive in
(21:28):
your mind to be an injustice,something that needs to be
righted where you were wronged.
And if you allow those thingsto be left unchecked, it can
really lead to some prettystrong grudges and a very toxic
work environment.
But what does the Bible say?
Well, the Bible in Proverbs 16,32 says whosoever is slow to
(21:53):
anger is better than the mighty,and he who rules his spirit
than he who takes a city.
He goes on to say in Proverbs15 and 18, a hot-tempered man
stirs up strife, but he who isslow to anger quiets contention.
You know, anger and resentmentcan really cause damage to
(22:16):
relationships with eitheremployees or family members, or
partners or clients, and it alsocreates this culture of fear or
retaliation.
It also brings about aspiritual bitterness, we'll say,
and that really can hinder youfrom prayer and it most
certainly can hinder you frompeace.
(22:38):
And so what do you need to do?
Well, first of all, you need toforgive.
You need to follow Christ'sexample, to forgive others as
God forgives us.
That's Colossians 3.13.
And then you need to practicepatience.
You need to recognize thatothers are also, they're just
(22:58):
works in progress, just like youare, just like I am.
And then you need to make sureyou address issues, but do it
real calmly and veryconstructively, and that will
give you some really good talentto be able to resolve conflict.
And when conflict does arise,take a moment.
(23:20):
Take a moment and pray beforeyou respond.
Before you respond Even if it'sto go to the bathroom and just
pray before you come back out torespond to something, you
respond, even if it's to go tothe bathroom and just pray
before you come back out torespond to something, somehow,
take some time just to pray, andthen you can implement some
regular team building exercisesthat can really help foster,
(23:42):
let's say, understanding thathelps you with empathy, and then
maybe offer some workshops onemotional intelligence and on
conflict management for yourteam.
That's also something that'svery beneficial when we're
talking about anger andresentment.
Number eight laziness.
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The temptation for laziness andprocrastination.
You know, laziness andprocrastination can tempt
leaders to avoid difficult tasks, to delay decisions, to settle
for what I would call mediocrity.
I've said this a million, not amillion times, but I've said it
(24:23):
many, many times on thispodcast that I don't want to be
just average, because average isthe best of the worst and the
worst of the best, and that'snot what we want to be.
We should aspire to be peopleof excellence and to be at that
(24:43):
higher level, and this canreally.
You know, when we talk aboutlaziness and procrastination,
this can really be challengingduring times of stress, maybe a
burnout.
You know someone onceprocrastination is opportunity's
assassin and I think that's sotrue.
(25:06):
Proverbs 12, 24 says the soulof a lazy man desires and has
nothing, but the soul of adiligent shall be made rich.
So it's important because youcan miss a lot of opportunities.
You can become stagnant and youcan get frustrated with
employees who rely on yourleadership when you have
(25:26):
laziness and procrastination.
And you need to be or understandthat you are called to be a
steward.
You're called to be a stewardof the many things that God has
given us and you can't be lazyand procrastinate and do that.
You know.
You've got to show diligence.
(25:47):
You've got to embrace thebiblical principle of whatever
you do, work with all your heartas working for the Lord.
That's Colossians 3.23.
And you've got to set someclear goals and hold yourself
accountable.
You've got to have timemanagement, prioritize tasks,
avoid distractions, but you needto have good time management.
(26:08):
You need to control your timewell and then use tools like
time blocking, where you blockoff so much time, or you use
something like the Eisenhowermatrix and you can Google that
to manage your schedule and thenbreak these large projects into
smaller, manageable, bite-sizedtasks.
(26:29):
That will help you, because alot of times we procrastinate
because we just feel overwhelmed.
We're just overwhelmed, and soif you can break things down to
smaller things and then delegatesome responsibilities to people
that you trust, all right.
Number nine fear and anxiety.
You know, fear, this temptationfor fear and anxiety.
(26:51):
It can paralyze you.
You can't make a decision atall when you get like that and
it really leads to excess worry.
You'll worry about the future,you'll worry about financial
instability, you'll worry aboutfailure, and these emotions that
I'm talking about.
It can really erode the trustthat you have in God.
(27:15):
The Bible says that God has notgiven us the spirit of fear, but
of love, power and a sound mind.
So it's not God that bringsfear into our life, but when we
have that, it causes us to bevery indecisive, we miss
opportunities and we reallycreate this culture within our
organization, a culture ofcaution instead of innovation.
(27:38):
And so what you need to do ismake sure you have trust in
God's promises, because you cantrust him to provide, and you
need to delegate to people youtrust, delegate responsibilities
, empower your team and thenbring your concerns to God,
bring them to him in prayer.
(27:58):
Start each day with a prayer ofsurrender, just saying God, I
can do nothing without you, butthrough you I can do all things.
But, lord, I'm just laying thisat your feet and you help me
and guide my decisions.
Today that's just a quickprayer, but you should pray
every day and share yourconcerns with even a prayer
partner, maybe that you have, ora prayer partner maybe that you
(28:19):
have, or even a small groupthat you have.
Share with a group and thenencourage this culture of
innovation and you celebratethese calculated risks that
they're taking and you learnfrom your failures.
So I think this is a veryimportant one, this fear and
anxiety.
(28:40):
I have done a podcast on fearbefore.
I hope that you go back andlisten to it, but it's very
powerful.
Then, number 10, we have thistemptation to surround ourselves
with yes, people, with yes men,yes, women Leaders may prefer
to surround themselves withagreeable people, but when you
avoid dissent and you avoidchallenge, it just creates this
(29:05):
echo chamber that just kind oflimits any kind of critical
thinking or innovation at all.
Leonardo da Vinci said one timethe greatest deception men
suffer is from their ownopinions.
Suffer is from their ownopinions.
The founder of Wrigley ChewingGum, walter Wrigley.
He said once that when twopeople always agree, one of them
(29:29):
is unnecessary.
You don't need people to agreewith you.
You need people that candisagree with you and show you
why they disagree with you.
Because when you don't, whenyou have a group, an inner group
, an inner circle of just yespeople.
You're going to make baddecisions, there's going to be
assumptions that are not goingto be challenged, you're going
to have blind spots blind spotsto risk or opportunities or even
(29:54):
the need for changes and you'llstifle creativity.
You won't have any creativity,and so you want to be able to
look at that, and so you canhave very diverse perspectives.
Recruit people around you thathave a lot of different kinds of
backgrounds, a lot of differentviewpoints, and you want to
foster constructive criticism.
(30:17):
You want to foster that.
You want to reward people withthese really thoughtful
challenges to ideas anddecisions.
And then you want to look atyour decisions all the time.
You want to look at thempost-decision reviews to assess
how you could improve.
You want to look at thosebefore.
(30:37):
You want to make sure that youhire people with great character
and competence.
You need to make sure that youvalue integrity, value skill
over agreement in any teambuilding situation, whenever
you're trying to build a teamout.
A company, for example, mayassign a devil's advocate in
(30:59):
meetings and his only job is todisagree and have reasons of why
he does disagree, and it'llhelp you to have stronger
strategies.
And so in your next meeting youshould ask for alternative
opinions or assign someone tochallenge that.
(31:19):
So Christian business leadersare called to be lights in the
marketplace.
We're called to demonstrateintegrity and faith and servant
leadership.
And when you begin to recognizeand be proactive about
addressing these commontemptations, I think you can
remain very steadfast in yourfaith and yet excel in your
(31:41):
professional calling.
And through prayer andaccountability and a commitment
to these biblical principles, Ibelieve that Christian leaders
can navigate the business worldin a way that honors God and
influences others for his glory.
Lord, I come before you onbehalf of these listeners of
(32:03):
this podcast.
Lord, I ask you to help eachand every one of them, to help
them during these times of thesedestructive temptations that
could ruin their lives, and Ipray, lord, that you would open
their minds and their hearts torecognize that any time one of
these temptations begin to comeagainst them, that they would be
reminded of these principleswe've talked about today.
(32:25):
And, lord, I pray that thoseprinciples would strengthen them
to be able to overcome thosetemptations.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Ipray Amen.
Well, thank you again forlistening to today's podcast and
just feel free to click on thatlink that's at the top of the
description of this podcast andyou can link and it will come
(32:47):
right to me and you can share atestimony, a prayer request or
maybe a suggest a future topic,but we'd love to hear from you.
Well, that looks like that'sall the time we have for today,
so until next time, rememberthat Jesus is Lord and he wants
you blessed.
Speaker 1 (33:07):
Thank you for tuning into this week's Christian
Business Concepts podcast.
Go tochristianbusinessconceptscom for
more information and resources.
Be sure to check out otherpodcasts that will help you take
your business and your personallife to a whole new level of
success.
Welcome to the Christian Business Concepts with
your host, Harold Milby.
Christian Business Concepts isdedicated to guiding companies
and business owners in becomingeffective, efficient and
successful through God's Wordand godly principles.
Now, here's your host, HaroldMilby.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Thank you, kelly, and welcome everyone to this week's
Christian Business Conceptspodcast.
I'm your host, harold Milby,and I'm so very glad that you
downloaded this podcast.
If you're a regular listener,you know that I strive for each
podcast to encourage you, toenlighten you and to empower you
.
To encourage you, to enlightenyou and to empower you.
(00:44):
You know we have a very simplevision here at CBC and that is
we want to help business owners,business leaders,
organizational leaders,department managers and leaders
and other people help find truegodly success by applyinglying
Biblical Principles, and youknow that's something that we're
(01:08):
serious about.
That's what we're about, andplease help us to grow the CBC
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You know, this week I reallywant to give a big shout out to
(01:29):
Paris, france, for having somany downloads.
Thank you.
Thank you the fine people ofFrance.
We just are so appreciativethat you are tuning in to the
Christian Business Conceptspodcast each week.
Thank you so much and thanks toall of you who download this
podcast and for those thatlisten regularly.
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We are so thankful and we hopethat those of you in Paris are
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blessed by listening to the CBCpodcast.
We want to be here to help andencourage and to serve, and you
know that's what we're trying todo every single week through
(02:13):
the podcast and through otherministries.
Now I want to talk today.
You know, I think we allunderstand that Christian
business leaders are called toreally uphold integrity and
righteousness andChrist-centered leadership in
(02:35):
their professional endeavors andin their personal lives as well
.
Now, saying that, I alsobelieve that navigating this
corporate world that we live intoday and the challenges in our
personal lives, I believe thatthey present various temptations
(02:57):
that can really compromise ourfaith and our values.
Today, I want to talk aboutsome of the common temptations
that we may face as a leader,and maybe even as a person, and
provide some biblical strategiesto overcome them.
I believe this will help ensurethat you remain steadfast
(03:23):
steadfast as in your Christianwalk, while you continue to lead
, not just as a good leader, butyou lead with excellence, and I
truly believe that thesetemptations are very common, but
these are the top 10 that Ifeel like that you, as a leader,
(03:45):
or even as a person will face.
But before we get into those,let me lay a groundwork, a
foundation for you.
So 1 Corinthians 10, 13 says notemptation has overtaken you.
That is not common to man.
God is faithful and he will notlet you be tempted beyond your
(04:06):
ability, but with the temptationhe will also provide the way of
escape that you may be able tobear it.
So it's really important tounderstand a couple of things.
Number one, that there's notemptation that you may face
that.
Other people haven't faced italready and have been victorious
(04:29):
, and some have failed, but it'snot uncommon.
So understand that.
Then, secondly, understand thatGod is faithful and he will not
let you be tempted beyond yourability, but with the temptation
he will make a way of escapethat you can bear it, so that
(04:52):
you can endure it.
So it's not that God will never.
You know, oh, I can't handlethis temptation, so the Lord
takes it away from you.
What this passage is saying isthat in every temptation God
will provide a way to endure it,as this passage says.
(05:12):
Now, if you go on to Hebrews,chapter 4 and verse 15, it says
for we do not have a high priestwho is unable to sympathize
with our weaknesses, but one who, in every respect, has been
tempted as we are, yet withoutsin.
So understand that Jesus, ourSavior, was tempted.
The Bible even talks about howhe was taken out into the
(05:34):
wilderness and was tempted ofthe devil for 40 days and 40
nights, and so you know thosetemptations that he faced were
very real.
They were very real and veryserious, and Jesus endured those
(05:55):
temptations and he overcamethem.
Now you'll remember those.
He always answered Satan withScripture, with what the Word of
God said, and that's what Jesusdid and that's how he overcame
the temptations.
So the Word of God, the Bible,is very important to you as
you're working through thesetimes of temptations and you
(06:17):
want to make sure that you stayin the Word.
James 1, 13-14 says Let no onesay when he is tempted, I am
being tempted by God, for Godcannot be tempted with evil and
he himself tempts no one, buteach person is tempted when he
is lured and enticed by his owndesire.
(06:41):
So, again, another point torealize is that most temptations
come from an unbridled desirethat you may have that you don't
recognize even.
And so let's look at these top10.
The first one is the temptationof dishonesty.
(07:03):
You know, lying about financialreports or misleading your
customers, or maybe cutting someethical corners, we'll say, or
just being dishonest with others, with your friends, with your
family.
You know the biblicalperspective is this Proverbs 11
(07:25):
and 1 says the Lord detestsdishonest scales, but accurate
weights find favor with him.
And then in Colossians 3 and 9,it says Do not lie to each
other, since you have taken offyour old self with its practices
.
So again, you know he's talkingabout dishonesty and God hates
(07:48):
dishonesty.
He really does.
And so you want to make surethat you do everything you can
to apply these principles, whichone is to commit to being very
transparent, very truthful inall of your business dealings
and to establish some kind of asystem of accountability within
(08:11):
your organization, within yourdepartment.
And then you want to make sureto seek some wise counsel from
Christian professionals, makesure that maybe you have an
accountability partner thathelps you with that.
You know this is a temptationthat can be so easy to slip into
(08:32):
just small little things,because it's the little things
that eventually allow you tobecome so numb to it that then
you're dishonest about a lot ofbig things.
So number two is the temptationof compromise in your
decision-making, makingdecisions based on worldly
(08:53):
standards instead of biblicalprinciples.
Andrew Carnegie said strong mendon't compromise and it is said
, and principles should never becompromised.
So he understood one of theall-time successful business
people in our country, in theUnited States.
(09:16):
In all of the time that thisUnited States has been here,
dale Carnegie was extremelysuccessful and he understood
this compromise ofdecision-making.
You don't want to makedecisions based on a worldly
standard.
You want to get your standardsfrom the Word of God and you
(09:40):
want to hold true to those.
You don't want to compromisethose the Bible says in Romans
12,.
It says do not conform to thepattern of this world, but be
transformed by the renewing ofyour mind.
So you want to make sure thatyour mind is right.
You want to make sure you'rethinking right and that your
thoughts are based uponscriptural principles.
(10:03):
Joshua 24, 15 says but as forme and my household, we will
serve the Lord.
There was no compromise there.
So seek wisdom.
Seek wisdom through prayer,through Bible reading, before
you make decisions and thensurround yourself with really
godly people and godly mentorsand then make sure that you
(10:28):
establish company policies,department policies, that
reflect biblical values.
So that's number two.
Number three the temptation ofneglecting your personal and
spiritual life.
That's really easy to do whenyou're a professional and you're
(10:48):
trying to do everything you canto bring success, and it's
really easy to forget about yourpersonal life, your family,
your physical being and alsoyour spiritual life.
We get so busy, we get socaught up and I encourage you,
every morning, take at least 15minutes to 30 if you can, before
(11:11):
you start your day.
Maybe have a daily devotionalthat you read, some scriptures,
that you read and have somethingthat you do every morning that
includes reading the Word of Godand praying and meditating on
that Word.
You don't have to start tryingto do something for an hour or
two hours a day.
Start with doing 10 minutes aday, 15, 20.
(11:33):
Start that way.
And how do you overcome that?
Well, keep in mind, keep inmind.
You know.
Mark 8, 36 says what good is itfor someone to gain the whole
world yet forfeit their soul?
Matthew 6, 33 says but seek yefirst the kingdom and his
(11:55):
righteousness and all of thesethings will be given to you as
well.
So it's important for us to notneglect our personal life and
especially our spiritual life aswell.
Listen, if you're married, youhave a family.
If you're not married, youstill more than likely have a
family.
So you don't want to neglectyour family, you don't want to
(12:18):
work so much that you justneglect your family.
And you don't want to neglectyour physical body.
You want to make sure you takecare of yourself, you want to
exercise, you want to eat right.
So don't allow that temptationof you neglecting your personal
and spiritual life to take holdof you.
Schedule Make sure you scheduletime, block time out for prayer
(12:42):
and Bible study and evenworship, and make sure you
maintain this work-life balance,one that would really, I would
say, honor God and honor yourfamily.
So set some boundaries toprevent your work from
overtaking, overshadowing yourfamily and your spiritual growth
(13:06):
.
Make sure you do that.
Your family and your spiritualgrowth.
Make sure you do that, allright.
Number five is the temptation ofpride and arrogance.
You know I was sharing in amessage the other day that I was
preaching from the church thatI go to and the pastor had asked
me to fill in for him.
(13:27):
He was out of town and I wassharing.
Today, the difference between aboldness and arrogance and
boldness is, you know, a godlyboldness has to do with who we
are in God and who God is.
But arrogance is centeredaround us personally and I
(13:56):
believe that pride is thattemptation to take personal
credit for success, forforgetting that all those
talents and opportunities andthe achievements are gifts from
God, and it just really can leadto arrogance and you alienate
yourself from other people andthen you begin to have this
sense of self-sufficiency thatyou can do it all, and that
distances you from God and yourfaith.
(14:17):
You know Leo Tolstoy said onetime.
He said an arrogant personconsiders himself perfect.
This is the chief harm ofarrogance.
It interferes with a person'smain task in life and that is
becoming a better person.
So it's important because youknow you can have consequences
(14:41):
of pride and arrogance and someof those consequences is you'll
have a strained relationshipwith employees or maybe partners
or clients.
You create this culture of fearor competition instead of
collaboration.
There's a spiritual disconnectthat you'll experience from
God's guidance.
(15:02):
So make sure that you rememberto stay humble.
Remember that God says in James4, 6, he said God opposes the
proud heart but shows favor tothe humble.
So acknowledge that your skillsremember, acknowledge it out of
your mouth and say thank you,lord, for the skills you've
given me, for the opportunitiesthat are blessings to me, and so
(15:25):
then regularly expressthankfulness to God and to those
even other people who havehelped contribute to your
success.
And then be sure to followChrist's example by leading with
a servant's heart andprioritizing the needs of other
people above your own, otherpeople above your own and then
(15:46):
publicly recognize some of yourteam's contributions maybe in
meetings or maybe in somecompany communications, emails
or what have you and then starteach day with prayer, a prayer
of thankfulness and asking Godto keep you humble.
You know, mentor other peopleand share credit.
(16:06):
You know for their successes.
Other people and share creditfor their successes, all right.
Number five greed andmaterialism.
We see that all the time, greedis this insatiable desire for
wealth, for possessions or power, and a lot of times, more often
than not, it can be at theexpense of even ethics and
(16:28):
ethical considerations.
It can lead to decisions thatprioritize profit over people
and purpose, and so you have tokeep greed in check.
Materialism you have to keepthat in check, keep it at bay,
because it'll create a lot ofunethical business practices,
(16:48):
such as you begin to cut corners, you exploit workers, you
create this culture that'sfocused solely on financial gain
and you don't think about anemployee's well-being, you begin
to experience a spiritualemptiness because you have all
these material pursuits, andthose material pursuits will
(17:09):
overshadow your faith.
So what do we do?
Well, according to Philippians4, 11 through 12, you've got to
be willing to be content.
You know, paul embraces thisteaching to be content in all
circumstances, to be intent inall circumstances and then be
generous, give freely to others,reflect God's generosities,
(17:37):
make some good ethical decisions, make sure you commit to
choices that line up withChristian values, that line up
with the Word of God, even ifthey don't seem to be as
profitable, but that's what youwant to do.
So set your personal andcompany giving goals, such as
tithing, maybe a portion of yourprofits to charity or
(18:02):
supporting worthy causes.
But have goals, have givinggoals and ones that other people
in your organization see andunderstand and can get behind.
But they see that generosity.
And you can do that bysupporting employees to
volunteer or maybe to give tocertain charities or certain
(18:34):
charitable initiatives, you know.
So make sure that you do thesethings.
Number six the temptation forlust and immorality.
You know, lust and immoralitycan manifest, for example, in
just not having a properrelationship with people, a
(18:55):
misuse of power or isolation.
And this temptation is very,very potent.
You know, romans 13 and 14 saysbut put on the Lord, jesus
Christ, and make no provisionfor the flesh to gratify its
desires.
And that's what it is.
It's just a desire to pleasureyour flesh, whether it be some
(19:19):
type of sexual type oftemptation or an improper
relationship or an improperrelationship.
You know you begin to havethese broken relationships and
families because of it.
I've seen it multiple times inpeople's lives A loss of
credibility and respect.
(19:40):
And you've taken your wholelife to build that.
Why throw it away, you know?
And you'll have spiritual guiltover it and you'll begin to
feel this separation from Godbecause you're building this
wall created by lust andimmorality.
So you've got to be very, verycareful and so you've got to
(20:00):
commit to living a life thathonors God, designed for
relationships.
Set some boundaries, make sureyou have clear professional and
personal boundaries to avoid anykind of compromising situations
.
I've always made it a habit Ido not meet alone with women.
(20:23):
I just don't do that.
I just will not meet alone withwomen.
And if they demand that, then Itell them they have to find
somebody else to talk to.
I'm not going to compromise inthat arena.
It is too easy for eithersomething to be said or somebody
look at it and it not lookright.
And I, according to the Bible,I'm going to stay away from even
(20:46):
the appearance of evil.
So make sure that you do that,and that just is important and
use accountability and regularcheck-ins, maybe with a mentor,
and foster this workplace thatpromotes respect and
(21:07):
professionalism.
You know, because you want tostay away from those types of
lustful opportunities that mayarise All right.
Number seven the temptation ofanger and resentment.
You know anger and resentmentcan just arise out of conflicts.
You know they could besomething that you perceive in
(21:28):
your mind to be an injustice,something that needs to be
righted where you were wronged.
And if you allow those thingsto be left unchecked, it can
really lead to some prettystrong grudges and a very toxic
work environment.
But what does the Bible say?
Well, the Bible in Proverbs 16,32 says whosoever is slow to
(21:53):
anger is better than the mighty,and he who rules his spirit
than he who takes a city.
He goes on to say in Proverbs15 and 18, a hot-tempered man
stirs up strife, but he who isslow to anger quiets contention.
You know, anger and resentmentcan really cause damage to
(22:16):
relationships with eitheremployees or family members, or
partners or clients, and it alsocreates this culture of fear or
retaliation.
It also brings about aspiritual bitterness, we'll say,
and that really can hinder youfrom prayer and it most
certainly can hinder you frompeace.
(22:38):
And so what do you need to do?
Well, first of all, you need toforgive.
You need to follow Christ'sexample, to forgive others as
God forgives us.
That's Colossians 3.13.
And then you need to practicepatience.
You need to recognize thatothers are also, they're just
(22:58):
works in progress, just like youare, just like I am.
And then you need to make sureyou address issues, but do it
real calmly and veryconstructively, and that will
give you some really good talentto be able to resolve conflict.
And when conflict does arise,take a moment.
(23:20):
Take a moment and pray beforeyou respond.
Before you respond Even if it'sto go to the bathroom and just
pray before you come back out torespond to something, you
respond, even if it's to go tothe bathroom and just pray
before you come back out torespond to something, somehow,
take some time just to pray, andthen you can implement some
regular team building exercisesthat can really help foster,
(23:42):
let's say, understanding thathelps you with empathy, and then
maybe offer some workshops onemotional intelligence and on
conflict management for yourteam.
That's also something that'svery beneficial when we're
talking about anger andresentment.
Number eight laziness.
(24:02):
The temptation for laziness andprocrastination.
You know, laziness andprocrastination can tempt
leaders to avoid difficult tasks, to delay decisions, to settle
for what I would call mediocrity.
I've said this a million, not amillion times, but I've said it
(24:23):
many, many times on thispodcast that I don't want to be
just average, because average isthe best of the worst and the
worst of the best, and that'snot what we want to be.
We should aspire to be peopleof excellence and to be at that
(24:43):
higher level, and this canreally.
You know, when we talk aboutlaziness and procrastination,
this can really be challengingduring times of stress, maybe a
burnout.
You know someone onceprocrastination is opportunity's
assassin and I think that's sotrue.
(25:06):
Proverbs 12, 24 says the soulof a lazy man desires and has
nothing, but the soul of adiligent shall be made rich.
So it's important because youcan miss a lot of opportunities.
You can become stagnant and youcan get frustrated with
employees who rely on yourleadership when you have
(25:26):
laziness and procrastination.
And you need to be or understandthat you are called to be a
steward.
You're called to be a stewardof the many things that God has
given us and you can't be lazyand procrastinate and do that.
You know.
You've got to show diligence.
(25:47):
You've got to embrace thebiblical principle of whatever
you do, work with all your heartas working for the Lord.
That's Colossians 3.23.
And you've got to set someclear goals and hold yourself
accountable.
You've got to have timemanagement, prioritize tasks,
avoid distractions, but you needto have good time management.
(26:08):
You need to control your timewell and then use tools like
time blocking, where you blockoff so much time, or you use
something like the Eisenhowermatrix and you can Google that
to manage your schedule and thenbreak these large projects into
smaller, manageable, bite-sizedtasks.
(26:29):
That will help you, because alot of times we procrastinate
because we just feel overwhelmed.
We're just overwhelmed, and soif you can break things down to
smaller things and then delegatesome responsibilities to people
that you trust, all right.
Number nine fear and anxiety.
You know, fear, this temptationfor fear and anxiety.
(26:51):
It can paralyze you.
You can't make a decision atall when you get like that and
it really leads to excess worry.
You'll worry about the future,you'll worry about financial
instability, you'll worry aboutfailure, and these emotions that
I'm talking about.
It can really erode the trustthat you have in God.
(27:15):
The Bible says that God has notgiven us the spirit of fear, but
of love, power and a sound mind.
So it's not God that bringsfear into our life, but when we
have that, it causes us to bevery indecisive, we miss
opportunities and we reallycreate this culture within our
organization, a culture ofcaution instead of innovation.
(27:38):
And so what you need to do ismake sure you have trust in
God's promises, because you cantrust him to provide, and you
need to delegate to people youtrust, delegate responsibilities
, empower your team and thenbring your concerns to God,
bring them to him in prayer.
(27:58):
Start each day with a prayer ofsurrender, just saying God, I
can do nothing without you, butthrough you I can do all things.
But, lord, I'm just laying thisat your feet and you help me
and guide my decisions.
Today that's just a quickprayer, but you should pray
every day and share yourconcerns with even a prayer
partner, maybe that you have, ora prayer partner maybe that you
(28:19):
have, or even a small groupthat you have.
Share with a group and thenencourage this culture of
innovation and you celebratethese calculated risks that
they're taking and you learnfrom your failures.
So I think this is a veryimportant one, this fear and
anxiety.
(28:40):
I have done a podcast on fearbefore.
I hope that you go back andlisten to it, but it's very
powerful.
Then, number 10, we have thistemptation to surround ourselves
with yes, people, with yes men,yes, women Leaders may prefer
to surround themselves withagreeable people, but when you
avoid dissent and you avoidchallenge, it just creates this
(29:05):
echo chamber that just kind oflimits any kind of critical
thinking or innovation at all.
Leonardo da Vinci said one timethe greatest deception men
suffer is from their ownopinions.
Suffer is from their ownopinions.
The founder of Wrigley ChewingGum, walter Wrigley.
He said once that when twopeople always agree, one of them
(29:29):
is unnecessary.
You don't need people to agreewith you.
You need people that candisagree with you and show you
why they disagree with you.
Because when you don't, whenyou have a group, an inner group
, an inner circle of just yespeople.
You're going to make baddecisions, there's going to be
assumptions that are not goingto be challenged, you're going
to have blind spots blind spotsto risk or opportunities or even
(29:54):
the need for changes and you'llstifle creativity.
You won't have any creativity,and so you want to be able to
look at that, and so you canhave very diverse perspectives.
Recruit people around you thathave a lot of different kinds of
backgrounds, a lot of differentviewpoints, and you want to
foster constructive criticism.
(30:17):
You want to foster that.
You want to reward people withthese really thoughtful
challenges to ideas anddecisions.
And then you want to look atyour decisions all the time.
You want to look at thempost-decision reviews to assess
how you could improve.
You want to look at thosebefore.
(30:37):
You want to make sure that youhire people with great character
and competence.
You need to make sure that youvalue integrity, value skill
over agreement in any teambuilding situation, whenever
you're trying to build a teamout.
A company, for example, mayassign a devil's advocate in
(30:59):
meetings and his only job is todisagree and have reasons of why
he does disagree, and it'llhelp you to have stronger
strategies.
And so in your next meeting youshould ask for alternative
opinions or assign someone tochallenge that.
(31:19):
So Christian business leadersare called to be lights in the
marketplace.
We're called to demonstrateintegrity and faith and servant
leadership.
And when you begin to recognizeand be proactive about
addressing these commontemptations, I think you can
remain very steadfast in yourfaith and yet excel in your
(31:41):
professional calling.
And through prayer andaccountability and a commitment
to these biblical principles, Ibelieve that Christian leaders
can navigate the business worldin a way that honors God and
influences others for his glory.
Lord, I come before you onbehalf of these listeners of
(32:03):
this podcast.
Lord, I ask you to help eachand every one of them, to help
them during these times of thesedestructive temptations that
could ruin their lives, and Ipray, lord, that you would open
their minds and their hearts torecognize that any time one of
these temptations begin to comeagainst them, that they would be
reminded of these principleswe've talked about today.
(32:25):
And, lord, I pray that thoseprinciples would strengthen them
to be able to overcome thosetemptations.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Ipray Amen.
Well, thank you again forlistening to today's podcast and
just feel free to click on thatlink that's at the top of the
description of this podcast andyou can link and it will come
(32:47):
right to me and you can share atestimony, a prayer request or
maybe a suggest a future topic,but we'd love to hear from you.
Well, that looks like that'sall the time we have for today,
so until next time, rememberthat Jesus is Lord and he wants
you blessed.
Speaker 1 (33:07):
Thank you for tuning into this week's Christian
Business Concepts podcast.
Go tochristianbusinessconceptscom for
more information and resources.
Be sure to check out otherpodcasts that will help you take
your business and your personallife to a whole new level of
success.
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