October 1, 2025 • 26 mins
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What if the most important metric in your leadership isn’t a KPI, but completeness? We unpack the biblical idea of “perfect” as mature and whole—and show how that shift transforms the way we make decisions, build teams, and define real success.
We start with the heart of Christian leadership: reflecting God’s character at work. That means seeking wisdom beyond spreadsheets, practicing integrity even when it costs, and choosing humility over self-promotion. Drawing on James, Philippians, and Proverbs, we translate timeless Scripture into practical habits—clean books, honest timelines, open credit-sharing, and conflict handled with grace. You’ll hear why perseverance through hard seasons grows more than grit; it shapes credibility, steadies culture, and deepens your witness when markets shake. We also explore love as a leadership strategy, crafting a workplace where people come before profit while performance grows stronger, not softer.
Community and consistency round out the framework. We talk about the power of mentors and peer groups to sharpen our vision and hold us accountable, and we outline how Scripture acts like riverbanks—giving the force of your gifts safe direction. Then we zoom into the “law of consistency”: small, faithful practices that compound over time into trust, resilience, and lasting impact. From a daily dose of Proverbs to steady one-on-ones and principled vendor choices, these rhythms build a Christ-centered culture that customers notice and teams love.
If you’re ready to lead with wisdom, integrity, humility, perseverance, and love—and to aim for the kind of success that endures—this conversation is your next step. Subscribe, share with a friend who leads, and leave a review with the habit you’re committing to this week.
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Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
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_01 (00:17):
Thanks, Kelly, and welcome everyone to this week's
Christian Business ConceptsPodcast.
I'm your host, Harold Milby, andI'm so glad that you downloaded
this episode.
You know, each week we sharebiblical principles that you can
apply to your personal life andyour professional life that will
help you find what we believewill be true godly success.
(00:38):
So today I hope and I pray thatyou'll be enlightened,
encouraged, and empowered bywhat you hear.
And please help us to expand theCBC family.
Would you do that just bysharing this podcast with four
or five others and by postingthe link to this podcast on your
Facebook and LinkedIn pages?
(00:59):
Now, today I want to give a bigshout out to a couple of places.
Number one is Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania, right here in the
United States.
And I also want to give a bigshout out to the country of
Kenya.
You know, we we we havelisteners around the world.
Uh Kenya is one of thosecountries that download our
podcast on a weekly basis.
(01:20):
And I just want to say thank youto those of you in Kenya and
also in Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania, and around the
world.
That includes the United Statesas well.
So thanks to all of you fordownloading our podcast every
week and being a part of the CBCfamily.
And I hope that you'll continueto help us to grow.
You know, in this week'sbusiness spotlight, I want to
(01:42):
mention a person by the name ofCarla Harris.
Carla Harris is the vicechairman at Morgan Stanley.
Uh, she's considered to be oneof the top aspiring Christian
entrepreneurs actually in theworld.
She's a very prominent businessexecutive.
She's an author and uh amotivational speaker as well.
(02:03):
And Carla Harris um is verysuccessful in how that she
weaves uh the elements from theBible into all of her business
endeavors.
Uh she openly explains how herfaith guides her through her
work and how that uh her faithactually influences her personal
(02:27):
values.
And she believes that one'ssuccess in business is really
intricately uh intertwined withuh your commitment to serving
other people.
You know, Harris uh motivatespeople to develop their
spiritual lives along with theirprofessional lives, and uh she
(02:48):
does her best to try to provethat spirituality can be a great
motivator.
So, Carla Harris, I just want tosay keep up the great work and
for being such a great exampleand for adding value in people's
lives.
Thank you so much.
Now, let's get into this week'stopic.
I I want to focus on somethingthat's uh, you know, a little
(03:10):
bit more spiritual than thanthan we we typically talk about,
you know.
Um it's still something thatthat I think that does affect
you as a business ororganizational leader.
Uh, but you know, most of thetime we're we're dealing with
more specific business topics,then this one is really more of
a spiritual thing, but itaffects you in every area of
(03:34):
your life.
You know, as Christian businessleaders' maturity and
completeness are not merelyprofessional attributes, but
they're spiritual imperatives.
I mean, they are so importantand they're they're both rooted
in biblical principles.
You know, the Bible providestimeless wisdom for developing
(03:56):
your character and yourintegrity and wisdom, uh, and
not only to help you developthose things, but to develop
those things uh to effectivelyuh glorify God in what you do,
even in your business, even inyour professional uh career.
And today I just want to exploresome key biblical principles to
(04:19):
help you as a Christian businessleader or organizational leader
to grow in spiritual maturityand wholeness.
You know, the Bible uses theword perfect, not the way you
and I think about being perfect,in other words, without, you
know, uh flaws or not that kindof perfect.
But in the Bible, the wordperfect means complete.
(04:42):
And that's what God wants fromus.
He wants us to be mature, hewants us to be whole, and uh He
He wants us to be perfect inthat realm.
And that's gonna enable us tolead with purpose and humility
and excellence.
So, so why is it so important?
Well, well, first of all, it itit it reflects God's character
(05:06):
in leadership.
You know, Matthew 5.48 says, beperfect, therefore, as your
heavenly father is perfect.
And this word here, perfect, isnot does not mean without spot
or wrinkle or or imperimperfections.
What it means is is complete.
Uh also it's important becauseit helps you to fulfill your
(05:27):
God-given calling.
You know, Ephesians 2 and 10says, for we are God's handiwork
created in Christ Jesus to dogood works, which God prepared
in advance for us to do.
It'll also help us to navigate alot of the challenges in our
life, but not just to navigatethem, but navigate them with
(05:48):
faith.
Uh, you know, James 1 and 4says, Let perseverance finish
its work so that you may bemature and complete, not lacking
anything.
So that's important for us torealize.
Another reason is it helps us toinfluence others for Christ.
You know, Matthew 5.16 says, Letyour light shine before others
(06:10):
that they may see your gooddeeds and glorify your Father in
heaven.
So that's important.
Another is achieving truesuccess.
Not what the world says successis, but true success.
You know, Matthew 6.33 says, butseek first his kingdom and his
righteousness and all theseother things will be given to
you as well.
But we seek his kingdom first.
(06:31):
We seek him first, hisrighteousness first.
Then we'll find true success.
Because being complete andperfected in Christ as a
Christian business owner, itdirectly enhances our
leadership, our decision making,and it impacts both spiritual
(06:52):
and practical ways.
All right.
Another reason why it's soimportant is it fosters a
Christ-centered workplaceculture.
You know, John 13, 34 says, anew command I give you, love one
another as I have loved you, somust you love one another.
In fact, it he goes on and saysthat that um that they're gonna
(07:12):
know who you are by the lovethat you have for one another.
They're gonna know that youfollow Christ because of the
love that you have for oneanother.
So it's important that we havethis Christ-centered workplace
culture, if at all possible.
It also enhances ourstewardship.
You know, uh 1 Corinthians 4 2says, moreover, it is required
(07:32):
of stewards that they be foundfaithful.
Uh it also um uh uh amplifiesyour witness, you know, to the
world.
Uh five, uh Matthew 5, 16,again, let your light shine
before others that they may seeyour good deeds and glorify your
Father in heaven.
So those are some of the reasonsthat that we need to do that.
(07:56):
So, so how how is it that we areable to become complete, to be
perfected in Christ?
How do we do that?
Uh, what are some of theprinciples behind that?
And what can we do?
Well, first of all, we need toseek God's wisdom above
everything.
You know, uh James 1 and 5 says,if any of you lacks wisdom, you
(08:19):
should ask God who givesgenerously to all without
finding fault, and it will begiven uh to you.
You know, we have a greatexample of wisdom when we look
at the life of Solomon, uh, butthere's not just him that has
shown a lot of wisdom throughoutthe Word of God.
You can look from Genesis toRevelation and you can see men
and women of God who has beengiven uh, you know, this wisdom
(08:43):
that comes from God.
Uh I tell people all the time,you know, you should read a one
chapter of the book of Proverbsevery day.
Uh there's 31, there's 31Proverbs, and if you read one a
day and you got 31 days in thein the month, then you read one
a month or one a day for theentire month.
And uh so I encourage you to dothat.
(09:04):
But, you know, maturity beginswhen you recognize our
dependence, when you recognizeyour dependence on God's wisdom
rather than human understanding.
You know, in business, uh, youknow, decisions can involve a
lot of complex challenges.
There's financial pressures,there's ethical dilemmas,
there's team dynamics.
(09:26):
Uh, you know, so seeking God'swisdom through prayer and
scripture, it really ensuresthat your decisions align up
with his will.
Uh, the second thing that we dois we pursue holiness and
integrity.
You know, Hebrews 12, 14, manyof you know, it says, make every
effort to live in peace witheveryone and to be holy.
(09:47):
Without holiness, no one willsee the Lord.
You know, completeness in Christrequires holiness.
Now, you can't make yourselfholy.
You have to accept that.
But there are things in ourlives that we can do that line
up with God's word, thatamplifies this holiness that
Christ has already provided forus through his grace.
(10:09):
So we live a set apart for God'spurposes.
And for business leaders, thiskind of means maintaining
integrity in everything that wedo, even when it costs us.
You know, integrity builds trustwith your employees, it builds
trust with clients, withstakeholders, with vendors.
Uh, you know, I think it's soimportant that we reflect God's
(10:34):
uh character.
You know, and to do that, youcan you just need to be
transparent in the things thatyou do, whether it's financial
dealings, uh, we don't takeshortcuts, we don't practice
unethical practices, unethicalthings.
We honor our commitments evenwhen it's unconvenient, and we
try our best every day to modelChrist-like behavior and how you
(10:56):
treat others, especially underpressure.
Uh, so I think that's important.
Uh the next thing is to embracehumility.
If you want to be complete, ifyou want to be whole in Christ,
we need to embrace humility.
You know, Philippians 2 and 3says, do nothing out of selfish
ambition or vain conceit.
Rather, in humility, valueothers above yourselves.
(11:21):
You know, uh humility is ahallmark of Christian maturity.
It involves recognizing thatleadership is a stewardship from
God, not a platform forself-promotion.
You know, humble leadersprioritize the needs of others,
the needs of their employees orcustomers or communities over
(11:42):
personal gain.
You know, C.S.
Lewis, a great writer, uh, hesaid, humility is not thinking
less of yourself, it's thinkingof yourself less.
Let me say it again.
Humility is not thinking less ofyourself, it's thinking of
yourself less.
So that's important.
And uh we can do that bylistening actively, you know, uh
(12:05):
to feedback from employees andstakeholders without being so
defensive.
Uh, you know, make sure youshare your credit, share credit
uh for successes with your team,you know, acknowledge their
contributions and serve others,even in small ways.
You can mentor people, you cansome uh support community uh um
uh events and initiatives.
(12:27):
So those are some things that wecan do.
Next, we've got to perseverethrough trials.
If you want to be mature, if youwant to be complete and
perfected in Christ, you've gotto persevere through trials.
You know, James 1, 2 through 4says, consider it pure joy, my
brothers and sisters, wheneveryou face trials of many kinds.
(12:48):
Because you know that thetesting of your faith produces
perseverance.
Let perseverance finish its workso that you may be mature and
complete, not lacking anything.
You know, trials and toughtimes, they are opportunities
for us to grow.
You know, in business,challenges like financial
(13:09):
setbacks or market shifts orinterpersonal conflicts, they
test our faith, they test ourcharacter.
So perseverance through thesetrials fosters this maturity and
this reliance on God.
You know, John D.
Rockefeller said, I do not thinkthat there is any other quality
so essential to success of anykind as the quality of
(13:33):
perseverance.
It overcomes almost everything,even nature.
You know, James 1, it kind ofrefers to this, as we just read,
it kind of refers to thisspiritual wholeness, this
maturity.
Uh it's not a sinlessperfection, but it's a state of
being fully equipped for God'spurpose in our lives.
(13:54):
It reflects Christ's uhcharacter.
Um, you know, perseverance is isit's a steadfast endurance
through trials.
Uh, it's it's a process, itrefines your faith, it builds
character, and it leads to thismaturity and completeness.
So that's important.
All right, what's another thingthat we need to do for this
(14:17):
completeness and perfection tobe uh in our lives?
Well, we need to lead with loveand compassion.
Uh, you know, John 13, 34 says,A new command I give you, love
one another as I have loved you,so you must love one another.
Christian maturity is marked bylove.
It's a selfless, sacrificial,and unconditional love.
(14:38):
In business, this translating tothis translates to caring for
your employees, uh, caring fortheir well-being, treating
customers with respect, andmaking decisions that prioritize
people over profit.
Uh, you know, so we can do that.
We can create a workplaceculture that values employees'
(14:58):
personal and spiritual growth.
And we need to addressconflicts, but you address them
with grace.
You try to seek reconciliation,not retaliation.
Uh, and we support charitablecauses or community needs as
part of your business mission.
So those are important.
Another is that we need to growin faith through community.
(15:21):
Hebrews 10, 24, 25 says, and letus consider how we may spur one
another on toward love and gooddeeds, not giving up meeting
together as some are in thehabit of doing, but encouraging
one another.
You know, maturity is notachieved in isolation.
You know, Christian leaders needa community of believers for
(15:42):
accountability, forencouragement, for growth.
When you engage with a church ora Christian business network, it
fosters this spiritualcompleteness.
So it's important.
I would encourage you, if you'renot in a church, get in a
church.
Uh, join or maybe even form aChristian business leaders group
so that you can support eachother mutually.
(16:04):
Um, and and maybe mentor ordisciple others.
You know, share your faithjourney.
All right, the next thing, applythe word of God to to all areas
of your life.
Apply the word of God to allareas of your life.
You know, 2 Timothy 3, 16through 17 says, all scripture
is is God breathed and is usefulfor teaching, rebuking,
(16:28):
correcting, and training inrighteousness, so that the
servant of God may be thoroughlyequipped for every good work.
That word equipped is alsoperfected.
So he's perfected for every goodwork.
So that's so important.
You know, Paul emphasizes thatscripture is divinely inspired,
it's God breathed, right?
(16:49):
It serves a lot of purposes,teaching, rebuking, correcting,
training.
And these functions all worktogether to shape believers into
this spiritual maturity andcomplete person and enables them
to live out God's purpose andreflect, reflect again, Christ's
character.
You know, it's kind of like, youknow, the word of God and
(17:11):
applying the word of God in ourlives is kind of like a river.
You know, a river flows verypowerfully within its banks.
It nourishes the land.
But when you think about it, ifit didn't have those banks, it
floods, it loses direction.
And God's word really acts asthose banks, like in a river.
(17:32):
You know, it guides life's flowthrough his teaching, through
his correction.
And it applies, it it ensuresthat our life flows towards
maturity, like Paul letting goof his past uh to press on as it
talks about in Philippians 3.13,and we'll cover that here in
just a second.
(17:52):
The next thing we need to do iswe need to follow hard after
Christ.
We need to follow hard afterChrist.
Um, you know, Philippians uh3.12 through 15 says this not
that I have already obtained allof this or have already arrived
at my goal, but I press on totake hold of that for which
(18:14):
Christ Jesus took hold of me.
Brothers and sisters, I do notconsider myself yet to have
taken hold of it.
But one thing I do, forgettingwhat is behind and straining
towards what is ahead, I presson toward the goal to win the
prize for which God has calledme heavenward in Christ Jesus.
(18:35):
All of us then who are matureshould take such a view of these
things.
And if on some point you thinkdifferently, that too God will
make clear to you.
So it's so important as he beganto share that.
You know, maturity involves thisrelentless pursuit of Christ.
That's what Paul was saying.
He said, I'm putting everything,all my past, everything, it's my
(18:58):
past, it's behind me.
I'm not gonna let anythinghinder me from pressing on, from
following Christ.
You know, it's this process ofbecoming more and more like
Christ, and that's done throughintentional effort.
Nobody accidentally uh becomesmore like Christ.
It's an intentional thing thatwe do in our lives.
(19:20):
You know, if you can imagine asculptor, you know, you just
imagine this sculptor and he'schiseling, um, you know,
chiseling this block of stone.
You know, the statue is isn'tcomplete after he just hits it
one time, he just strikes it onetime.
But it takes shape throughpersistent effort.
(19:41):
And maturity is like thisprocess.
Each act that we take inobedience and surrender to God,
it begins to shape us, just likea sculptor, closer to Christ's
image.
But you just gotta have, youhave to keep working.
And that's why, as we discussthat perseverance is so, so
(20:02):
important.
We have to persevere.
Uh, but we have to also bepersistent.
You know, we have to bepersistent.
You know, the Bible talks aboutthere's actually the law of
persistence that's in the Bible,the law of persistence.
And uh this law of persistenceis a law that God created.
It works in the world, it worksfor unbelievers, it works for
(20:24):
believers.
It's the law of consistency.
You know, when when we when weevery day get up and read the
word of God, consistently it'sgoing to affect our lives.
I was talking to a businessleader not too long ago, and he
told me that he he started thisyear.
He wanted to read through theBible uh within a year.
(20:45):
And he said, amazingly, as hedid this uh this year, he said,
amazingly, what I found was allof a sudden I could feel closer
to God.
I could feel closer to him.
I felt strength, I felt peace, Ifelt so much more of God's power
in my life.
And I said, well, it's becauseyou're spending time in his word
(21:07):
every day, consistently,consistently, every single day.
You know, if you're going to cutdown a tree, you know, if you
swing the axe once, you're notgonna cut the tree down.
You have to swing it over andover and over and over again.
And that's that law ofconsistency.
And uh it's a powerful law inour lives.
(21:30):
You know, when we're talkingabout habits, you know, if you
want to develop great habits,then you've got to be
consistent.
Uh, this law of persistence andconsistency works out over time.
And uh consistency is the greatcompounder.
Uh, you know, we know aboutcompounding interest.
Well, when you have consistencygoing on in your life, you begin
(21:53):
to compound uh those things inyour life that you're doing.
You know, it's not good enoughto do it once or twice.
You have to do it consistently.
That's why having a vision ofour business is so important,
having a mission statement is soimportant.
Because if we act on thosethings consistently, we'll see
that vision come to fruitionbecause it's it's it's very,
(22:15):
very important.
So that law of consistency, uh,if we can apply that, whether it
be consistency in our prayertime, uh, it could be
consistency in our Biblereading, consistency in making
uh really good decisions,consistency in acting with
integrity.
It's that consistency, thatpersistence.
(22:37):
You just keep doing it, you keepdoing it, you keep doing it.
And you know, great athleteslearned this.
Great athletes learned that, youknow, early on.
That's what makes them a greatathlete.
They don't become a greatathlete just because they had a
great game today.
They have a great uh uh uh theybecome a great athlete because
uh they they consistently do thework that needs to be done.
(23:01):
They work out, they do thethings that they have to do.
Uh, you know, and uh somebodywas telling me the other day,
they had talked to somebody onthe PGA, and they were just
talking about, you know, howthey do three rounds of golf in
any uh PGA tournament.
And he was he was asking them,why do they do three rounds?
And he said, Well, anybody canbe good one round, but it takes
(23:23):
a great athlete, one that isconsistent and persistent to
become good at three rounds ofgolf.
And so, again, this law ofconsistency uh plays out in
professional sports.
And you can see that with greatquarterbacks, great running
backs.
(23:44):
I'm talking about Hall of Famepeople.
They're just consistent day inand day out.
They put in the time, they putin the persistence, they make it
happen, and those are the onesthat become extremely
successful.
So this law of consistency needsto be applied to what we do in
our business, to what we do inour faith and our in our daily
(24:05):
walk with Christ, it is so, sovery important to us.
So, so Christian businessleaders, we're called to be
mature, we're called to becomplete, we're called to
reflect Christ's character inevery aspect of our lives,
including our careers.
So by grounding our leadershipin biblical principles like
(24:29):
wisdom, integrity, humility,perseverance, love, stewardship,
community, you know, they canlead.
The leader, a leader can leadwith purpose.
And more importantly, they canlead with impact.
So these principles are not justideals, but they're practical
guides for transformingworkplaces, communities, and
(24:53):
lives for God's glory.
Lord, we thank you for helpingeach and every one of us today
become complete and mature andperfect in your eyes.
Lord, help us to practice theseprinciples.
Lord, these biblical principlesthat we talked about today.
Help us to grow in spiritualmaturity and help us to live out
these principles every singleday.
(25:15):
Help us to be consistent andpersistent.
And Lord, I thank you forblessing these leaders, Lord,
who have listened to thispodcast today.
In the name of Jesus Christ,amen and amen.
Well, thank you again forlistening to this week's
Christian Business ConceptsPodcast.
And if this podcast has helpedyou in some way, and if you see
(25:36):
its value, please be sure torecommend this podcast to others
because that could be a blessingto them as well.
Well, that's all the time wehave for today.
So until next time, rememberJesus is Lord and He wants you
blessed.
SPEAKER_00 (25:56):
Thank you for tuning into this week's Christian
Business Concepts Podcast.
Go to Christian BusinessConcepts.com 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_01 (00:17):
Thanks, Kelly, and welcome everyone to this week's
Christian Business ConceptsPodcast.
I'm your host, Harold Milby, andI'm so glad that you downloaded
this episode.
You know, each week we sharebiblical principles that you can
apply to your personal life andyour professional life that will
help you find what we believewill be true godly success.
(00:38):
So today I hope and I pray thatyou'll be enlightened,
encouraged, and empowered bywhat you hear.
And please help us to expand theCBC family.
Would you do that just bysharing this podcast with four
or five others and by postingthe link to this podcast on your
Facebook and LinkedIn pages?
(00:59):
Now, today I want to give a bigshout out to a couple of places.
Number one is Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania, right here in the
United States.
And I also want to give a bigshout out to the country of
Kenya.
You know, we we we havelisteners around the world.
Uh Kenya is one of thosecountries that download our
podcast on a weekly basis.
(01:20):
And I just want to say thank youto those of you in Kenya and
also in Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania, and around the
world.
That includes the United Statesas well.
So thanks to all of you fordownloading our podcast every
week and being a part of the CBCfamily.
And I hope that you'll continueto help us to grow.
You know, in this week'sbusiness spotlight, I want to
(01:42):
mention a person by the name ofCarla Harris.
Carla Harris is the vicechairman at Morgan Stanley.
Uh, she's considered to be oneof the top aspiring Christian
entrepreneurs actually in theworld.
She's a very prominent businessexecutive.
She's an author and uh amotivational speaker as well.
(02:03):
And Carla Harris um is verysuccessful in how that she
weaves uh the elements from theBible into all of her business
endeavors.
Uh she openly explains how herfaith guides her through her
work and how that uh her faithactually influences her personal
(02:27):
values.
And she believes that one'ssuccess in business is really
intricately uh intertwined withuh your commitment to serving
other people.
You know, Harris uh motivatespeople to develop their
spiritual lives along with theirprofessional lives, and uh she
(02:48):
does her best to try to provethat spirituality can be a great
motivator.
So, Carla Harris, I just want tosay keep up the great work and
for being such a great exampleand for adding value in people's
lives.
Thank you so much.
Now, let's get into this week'stopic.
I I want to focus on somethingthat's uh, you know, a little
(03:10):
bit more spiritual than thanthan we we typically talk about,
you know.
Um it's still something thatthat I think that does affect
you as a business ororganizational leader.
Uh, but you know, most of thetime we're we're dealing with
more specific business topics,then this one is really more of
a spiritual thing, but itaffects you in every area of
(03:34):
your life.
You know, as Christian businessleaders' maturity and
completeness are not merelyprofessional attributes, but
they're spiritual imperatives.
I mean, they are so importantand they're they're both rooted
in biblical principles.
You know, the Bible providestimeless wisdom for developing
(03:56):
your character and yourintegrity and wisdom, uh, and
not only to help you developthose things, but to develop
those things uh to effectivelyuh glorify God in what you do,
even in your business, even inyour professional uh career.
And today I just want to exploresome key biblical principles to
(04:19):
help you as a Christian businessleader or organizational leader
to grow in spiritual maturityand wholeness.
You know, the Bible uses theword perfect, not the way you
and I think about being perfect,in other words, without, you
know, uh flaws or not that kindof perfect.
But in the Bible, the wordperfect means complete.
(04:42):
And that's what God wants fromus.
He wants us to be mature, hewants us to be whole, and uh He
He wants us to be perfect inthat realm.
And that's gonna enable us tolead with purpose and humility
and excellence.
So, so why is it so important?
Well, well, first of all, it itit it reflects God's character
(05:06):
in leadership.
You know, Matthew 5.48 says, beperfect, therefore, as your
heavenly father is perfect.
And this word here, perfect, isnot does not mean without spot
or wrinkle or or imperimperfections.
What it means is is complete.
Uh also it's important becauseit helps you to fulfill your
(05:27):
God-given calling.
You know, Ephesians 2 and 10says, for we are God's handiwork
created in Christ Jesus to dogood works, which God prepared
in advance for us to do.
It'll also help us to navigate alot of the challenges in our
life, but not just to navigatethem, but navigate them with
(05:48):
faith.
Uh, you know, James 1 and 4says, Let perseverance finish
its work so that you may bemature and complete, not lacking
anything.
So that's important for us torealize.
Another reason is it helps us toinfluence others for Christ.
You know, Matthew 5.16 says, Letyour light shine before others
(06:10):
that they may see your gooddeeds and glorify your Father in
heaven.
So that's important.
Another is achieving truesuccess.
Not what the world says successis, but true success.
You know, Matthew 6.33 says, butseek first his kingdom and his
righteousness and all theseother things will be given to
you as well.
But we seek his kingdom first.
(06:31):
We seek him first, hisrighteousness first.
Then we'll find true success.
Because being complete andperfected in Christ as a
Christian business owner, itdirectly enhances our
leadership, our decision making,and it impacts both spiritual
(06:52):
and practical ways.
All right.
Another reason why it's soimportant is it fosters a
Christ-centered workplaceculture.
You know, John 13, 34 says, anew command I give you, love one
another as I have loved you, somust you love one another.
In fact, it he goes on and saysthat that um that they're gonna
(07:12):
know who you are by the lovethat you have for one another.
They're gonna know that youfollow Christ because of the
love that you have for oneanother.
So it's important that we havethis Christ-centered workplace
culture, if at all possible.
It also enhances ourstewardship.
You know, uh 1 Corinthians 4 2says, moreover, it is required
(07:32):
of stewards that they be foundfaithful.
Uh it also um uh uh amplifiesyour witness, you know, to the
world.
Uh five, uh Matthew 5, 16,again, let your light shine
before others that they may seeyour good deeds and glorify your
Father in heaven.
So those are some of the reasonsthat that we need to do that.
(07:56):
So, so how how is it that we areable to become complete, to be
perfected in Christ?
How do we do that?
Uh, what are some of theprinciples behind that?
And what can we do?
Well, first of all, we need toseek God's wisdom above
everything.
You know, uh James 1 and 5 says,if any of you lacks wisdom, you
(08:19):
should ask God who givesgenerously to all without
finding fault, and it will begiven uh to you.
You know, we have a greatexample of wisdom when we look
at the life of Solomon, uh, butthere's not just him that has
shown a lot of wisdom throughoutthe Word of God.
You can look from Genesis toRevelation and you can see men
and women of God who has beengiven uh, you know, this wisdom
(08:43):
that comes from God.
Uh I tell people all the time,you know, you should read a one
chapter of the book of Proverbsevery day.
Uh there's 31, there's 31Proverbs, and if you read one a
day and you got 31 days in thein the month, then you read one
a month or one a day for theentire month.
And uh so I encourage you to dothat.
(09:04):
But, you know, maturity beginswhen you recognize our
dependence, when you recognizeyour dependence on God's wisdom
rather than human understanding.
You know, in business, uh, youknow, decisions can involve a
lot of complex challenges.
There's financial pressures,there's ethical dilemmas,
there's team dynamics.
(09:26):
Uh, you know, so seeking God'swisdom through prayer and
scripture, it really ensuresthat your decisions align up
with his will.
Uh, the second thing that we dois we pursue holiness and
integrity.
You know, Hebrews 12, 14, manyof you know, it says, make every
effort to live in peace witheveryone and to be holy.
(09:47):
Without holiness, no one willsee the Lord.
You know, completeness in Christrequires holiness.
Now, you can't make yourselfholy.
You have to accept that.
But there are things in ourlives that we can do that line
up with God's word, thatamplifies this holiness that
Christ has already provided forus through his grace.
(10:09):
So we live a set apart for God'spurposes.
And for business leaders, thiskind of means maintaining
integrity in everything that wedo, even when it costs us.
You know, integrity builds trustwith your employees, it builds
trust with clients, withstakeholders, with vendors.
Uh, you know, I think it's soimportant that we reflect God's
(10:34):
uh character.
You know, and to do that, youcan you just need to be
transparent in the things thatyou do, whether it's financial
dealings, uh, we don't takeshortcuts, we don't practice
unethical practices, unethicalthings.
We honor our commitments evenwhen it's unconvenient, and we
try our best every day to modelChrist-like behavior and how you
(10:56):
treat others, especially underpressure.
Uh, so I think that's important.
Uh the next thing is to embracehumility.
If you want to be complete, ifyou want to be whole in Christ,
we need to embrace humility.
You know, Philippians 2 and 3says, do nothing out of selfish
ambition or vain conceit.
Rather, in humility, valueothers above yourselves.
(11:21):
You know, uh humility is ahallmark of Christian maturity.
It involves recognizing thatleadership is a stewardship from
God, not a platform forself-promotion.
You know, humble leadersprioritize the needs of others,
the needs of their employees orcustomers or communities over
(11:42):
personal gain.
You know, C.S.
Lewis, a great writer, uh, hesaid, humility is not thinking
less of yourself, it's thinkingof yourself less.
Let me say it again.
Humility is not thinking less ofyourself, it's thinking of
yourself less.
So that's important.
And uh we can do that bylistening actively, you know, uh
(12:05):
to feedback from employees andstakeholders without being so
defensive.
Uh, you know, make sure youshare your credit, share credit
uh for successes with your team,you know, acknowledge their
contributions and serve others,even in small ways.
You can mentor people, you cansome uh support community uh um
uh events and initiatives.
(12:27):
So those are some things that wecan do.
Next, we've got to perseverethrough trials.
If you want to be mature, if youwant to be complete and
perfected in Christ, you've gotto persevere through trials.
You know, James 1, 2 through 4says, consider it pure joy, my
brothers and sisters, wheneveryou face trials of many kinds.
(12:48):
Because you know that thetesting of your faith produces
perseverance.
Let perseverance finish its workso that you may be mature and
complete, not lacking anything.
You know, trials and toughtimes, they are opportunities
for us to grow.
You know, in business,challenges like financial
(13:09):
setbacks or market shifts orinterpersonal conflicts, they
test our faith, they test ourcharacter.
So perseverance through thesetrials fosters this maturity and
this reliance on God.
You know, John D.
Rockefeller said, I do not thinkthat there is any other quality
so essential to success of anykind as the quality of
(13:33):
perseverance.
It overcomes almost everything,even nature.
You know, James 1, it kind ofrefers to this, as we just read,
it kind of refers to thisspiritual wholeness, this
maturity.
Uh it's not a sinlessperfection, but it's a state of
being fully equipped for God'spurpose in our lives.
(13:54):
It reflects Christ's uhcharacter.
Um, you know, perseverance is isit's a steadfast endurance
through trials.
Uh, it's it's a process, itrefines your faith, it builds
character, and it leads to thismaturity and completeness.
So that's important.
All right, what's another thingthat we need to do for this
(14:17):
completeness and perfection tobe uh in our lives?
Well, we need to lead with loveand compassion.
Uh, you know, John 13, 34 says,A new command I give you, love
one another as I have loved you,so you must love one another.
Christian maturity is marked bylove.
It's a selfless, sacrificial,and unconditional love.
(14:38):
In business, this translating tothis translates to caring for
your employees, uh, caring fortheir well-being, treating
customers with respect, andmaking decisions that prioritize
people over profit.
Uh, you know, so we can do that.
We can create a workplaceculture that values employees'
(14:58):
personal and spiritual growth.
And we need to addressconflicts, but you address them
with grace.
You try to seek reconciliation,not retaliation.
Uh, and we support charitablecauses or community needs as
part of your business mission.
So those are important.
Another is that we need to growin faith through community.
(15:21):
Hebrews 10, 24, 25 says, and letus consider how we may spur one
another on toward love and gooddeeds, not giving up meeting
together as some are in thehabit of doing, but encouraging
one another.
You know, maturity is notachieved in isolation.
You know, Christian leaders needa community of believers for
(15:42):
accountability, forencouragement, for growth.
When you engage with a church ora Christian business network, it
fosters this spiritualcompleteness.
So it's important.
I would encourage you, if you'renot in a church, get in a
church.
Uh, join or maybe even form aChristian business leaders group
so that you can support eachother mutually.
(16:04):
Um, and and maybe mentor ordisciple others.
You know, share your faithjourney.
All right, the next thing, applythe word of God to to all areas
of your life.
Apply the word of God to allareas of your life.
You know, 2 Timothy 3, 16through 17 says, all scripture
is is God breathed and is usefulfor teaching, rebuking,
(16:28):
correcting, and training inrighteousness, so that the
servant of God may be thoroughlyequipped for every good work.
That word equipped is alsoperfected.
So he's perfected for every goodwork.
So that's so important.
You know, Paul emphasizes thatscripture is divinely inspired,
it's God breathed, right?
(16:49):
It serves a lot of purposes,teaching, rebuking, correcting,
training.
And these functions all worktogether to shape believers into
this spiritual maturity andcomplete person and enables them
to live out God's purpose andreflect, reflect again, Christ's
character.
You know, it's kind of like, youknow, the word of God and
(17:11):
applying the word of God in ourlives is kind of like a river.
You know, a river flows verypowerfully within its banks.
It nourishes the land.
But when you think about it, ifit didn't have those banks, it
floods, it loses direction.
And God's word really acts asthose banks, like in a river.
(17:32):
You know, it guides life's flowthrough his teaching, through
his correction.
And it applies, it it ensuresthat our life flows towards
maturity, like Paul letting goof his past uh to press on as it
talks about in Philippians 3.13,and we'll cover that here in
just a second.
(17:52):
The next thing we need to do iswe need to follow hard after
Christ.
We need to follow hard afterChrist.
Um, you know, Philippians uh3.12 through 15 says this not
that I have already obtained allof this or have already arrived
at my goal, but I press on totake hold of that for which
(18:14):
Christ Jesus took hold of me.
Brothers and sisters, I do notconsider myself yet to have
taken hold of it.
But one thing I do, forgettingwhat is behind and straining
towards what is ahead, I presson toward the goal to win the
prize for which God has calledme heavenward in Christ Jesus.
(18:35):
All of us then who are matureshould take such a view of these
things.
And if on some point you thinkdifferently, that too God will
make clear to you.
So it's so important as he beganto share that.
You know, maturity involves thisrelentless pursuit of Christ.
That's what Paul was saying.
He said, I'm putting everything,all my past, everything, it's my
(18:58):
past, it's behind me.
I'm not gonna let anythinghinder me from pressing on, from
following Christ.
You know, it's this process ofbecoming more and more like
Christ, and that's done throughintentional effort.
Nobody accidentally uh becomesmore like Christ.
It's an intentional thing thatwe do in our lives.
(19:20):
You know, if you can imagine asculptor, you know, you just
imagine this sculptor and he'schiseling, um, you know,
chiseling this block of stone.
You know, the statue is isn'tcomplete after he just hits it
one time, he just strikes it onetime.
But it takes shape throughpersistent effort.
(19:41):
And maturity is like thisprocess.
Each act that we take inobedience and surrender to God,
it begins to shape us, just likea sculptor, closer to Christ's
image.
But you just gotta have, youhave to keep working.
And that's why, as we discussthat perseverance is so, so
(20:02):
important.
We have to persevere.
Uh, but we have to also bepersistent.
You know, we have to bepersistent.
You know, the Bible talks aboutthere's actually the law of
persistence that's in the Bible,the law of persistence.
And uh this law of persistenceis a law that God created.
It works in the world, it worksfor unbelievers, it works for
(20:24):
believers.
It's the law of consistency.
You know, when when we when weevery day get up and read the
word of God, consistently it'sgoing to affect our lives.
I was talking to a businessleader not too long ago, and he
told me that he he started thisyear.
He wanted to read through theBible uh within a year.
(20:45):
And he said, amazingly, as hedid this uh this year, he said,
amazingly, what I found was allof a sudden I could feel closer
to God.
I could feel closer to him.
I felt strength, I felt peace, Ifelt so much more of God's power
in my life.
And I said, well, it's becauseyou're spending time in his word
(21:07):
every day, consistently,consistently, every single day.
You know, if you're going to cutdown a tree, you know, if you
swing the axe once, you're notgonna cut the tree down.
You have to swing it over andover and over and over again.
And that's that law ofconsistency.
And uh it's a powerful law inour lives.
(21:30):
You know, when we're talkingabout habits, you know, if you
want to develop great habits,then you've got to be
consistent.
Uh, this law of persistence andconsistency works out over time.
And uh consistency is the greatcompounder.
Uh, you know, we know aboutcompounding interest.
Well, when you have consistencygoing on in your life, you begin
(21:53):
to compound uh those things inyour life that you're doing.
You know, it's not good enoughto do it once or twice.
You have to do it consistently.
That's why having a vision ofour business is so important,
having a mission statement is soimportant.
Because if we act on thosethings consistently, we'll see
that vision come to fruitionbecause it's it's it's very,
(22:15):
very important.
So that law of consistency, uh,if we can apply that, whether it
be consistency in our prayertime, uh, it could be
consistency in our Biblereading, consistency in making
uh really good decisions,consistency in acting with
integrity.
It's that consistency, thatpersistence.
(22:37):
You just keep doing it, you keepdoing it, you keep doing it.
And you know, great athleteslearned this.
Great athletes learned that, youknow, early on.
That's what makes them a greatathlete.
They don't become a greatathlete just because they had a
great game today.
They have a great uh uh uh theybecome a great athlete because
uh they they consistently do thework that needs to be done.
(23:01):
They work out, they do thethings that they have to do.
Uh, you know, and uh somebodywas telling me the other day,
they had talked to somebody onthe PGA, and they were just
talking about, you know, howthey do three rounds of golf in
any uh PGA tournament.
And he was he was asking them,why do they do three rounds?
And he said, Well, anybody canbe good one round, but it takes
(23:23):
a great athlete, one that isconsistent and persistent to
become good at three rounds ofgolf.
And so, again, this law ofconsistency uh plays out in
professional sports.
And you can see that with greatquarterbacks, great running
backs.
(23:44):
I'm talking about Hall of Famepeople.
They're just consistent day inand day out.
They put in the time, they putin the persistence, they make it
happen, and those are the onesthat become extremely
successful.
So this law of consistency needsto be applied to what we do in
our business, to what we do inour faith and our in our daily
(24:05):
walk with Christ, it is so, sovery important to us.
So, so Christian businessleaders, we're called to be
mature, we're called to becomplete, we're called to
reflect Christ's character inevery aspect of our lives,
including our careers.
So by grounding our leadershipin biblical principles like
(24:29):
wisdom, integrity, humility,perseverance, love, stewardship,
community, you know, they canlead.
The leader, a leader can leadwith purpose.
And more importantly, they canlead with impact.
So these principles are not justideals, but they're practical
guides for transformingworkplaces, communities, and
(24:53):
lives for God's glory.
Lord, we thank you for helpingeach and every one of us today
become complete and mature andperfect in your eyes.
Lord, help us to practice theseprinciples.
Lord, these biblical principlesthat we talked about today.
Help us to grow in spiritualmaturity and help us to live out
these principles every singleday.
(25:15):
Help us to be consistent andpersistent.
And Lord, I thank you forblessing these leaders, Lord,
who have listened to thispodcast today.
In the name of Jesus Christ,amen and amen.
Well, thank you again forlistening to this week's
Christian Business ConceptsPodcast.
And if this podcast has helpedyou in some way, and if you see
(25:36):
its value, please be sure torecommend this podcast to others
because that could be a blessingto them as well.
Well, that's all the time wehave for today.
So until next time, rememberJesus is Lord and He wants you
blessed.
SPEAKER_00 (25:56):
Thank you for tuning into this week's Christian
Business Concepts Podcast.
Go to Christian BusinessConcepts.com 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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