Photo by Anthony Da Cruz on Unsplash.
“We’re all so busy we don’t make time to enjoy our lives,
good company and good food.”
John Torode
If it’s one thing that the pandemic did was put a good hit on church attendance. Let me put a disclaimer right here, church attendance of itself doesn’t save you.
At the time of writing this, there are still some that haven’t returned back to attending church in person. Or if they do decide to come, it’s more like a visit or drive by to check the scene.
Have you ever had this thought like some were just looking for the right excuse to support what they wanted to do a long time ago? Or is it just me?
You and I are encouraged to come together as believers to worship God, I’ll talk more about that a little bit later.
There are numerous challenges and temptations to prioritize your business over spiritual growth and health. As you know, you need to work to accumulate the necessities of life. That includes the basics of food, clothing & shelter. And if your only income is your business, sometimes that can be a lot of pressure. That pressure can lead to you neglecting your spiritual life or putting it aside until you have some more time.
If that’s you, I do encourage you to give God a chance to help you set things in order as far as business responsibilities and spiritual priorities.
The Temptation of Busyness:
Today’s culture promotes busyness as a flex and especially among entrepreneurs. I wrote the other day how you can be busy, busy, busy but yet not going nowhere or seeing real results.
The real truth is that the demands of today’s world can lead you to neglecting your spiritual commitments. I know in most cases we don’t intentionally plan it to happen that way. I believe this one thing, that’s just how the enemy wants to see it.
Here’s the negative effect of letting busyness overtake your spiritual health. If this is happening in your life or has happened before, you would have experienced some sort of burnout.
Even though the energizer bunny has influenced you to keep going, going, going but you still feel drained and carrying a lot of stress. On top of that you feel an emptiness that only can be filled by spiritual activities.
The Importance of Corporate Worship:
Now we’re at the point of what I told you I’ll address later. ”and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.“ – Hebrews 10:24-25 (KJV).
You can see clearly that you should not give up the habit of meeting together with others on a regular basis as believers in Christ. Isn’t it funny that many will Not give up meeting for gatherings of entertainment, sports, political, culture to honor men, but fight against gathering to honor the one who created us all.
But why do we gather, what are the benefits? We gather for worship, preaching & teachings of the truth, for spiritual growth, to advance God’s kingdom, build better communities, accountability and encouragement.
We see some of this also clearly stated in our bible verse (Hebrews 10:24-25 (KJV) mentioned “to provoke unto love and to good works”, and “exhorting one another.”
Finding Balance Between Business and Worship:
I really don’t want to address Sunday attendance, but I still strongly feel the need to add it here. I won’t take it for granted, because I don’t know your level at this current time and where you’re at. If Sunday attendance is a struggle for you because of work schedule, i.e. it’s a day you regularly work then check out the other available opportunities on your church’s weekly schedule.
Now if you’re available on some Sunday’s but still struggle to attend because that’s your big rest day (wink, wink & smiling), then take the approach of scheduling your Sundays the same way you do your business & work schedules.
With this method, you intentionally make up in your mind before time that you have it booked on your calendar. If whatever comes up, and stuff will, then you stand firm and say sorry not available.
If you have Sundays locked in, and desire more spiritual growth then start with where you need to grow at this time. Bear in mind, I’m still talking about doing things corporately with others. For example, you want to build up your prayer life then find the corporate prayer opportunities at church. Same goes for bible study and other areas.
Common excuses and barriers for not attending church: I see too much problem in the church – unless you live under a rock and have everything delivered to you, you have seen problems in your business, other businesses, the world and more, but you keep showing up. Also, bad churches are not a reason not to go.
I don’t feel like going – Of course there’s legitimate reasons you may not feel like going or unable to attend. If you find this happening all too often, then you must ask yourself if your feelings should be the one dictating to you. That’s the same body that didn’t feel like working, but will receive a business call to do a job for a product or service on Sunday.
I’ve found better teaching online – Ouch! For all the pastors and preachers that one just hurt. This can be true in a lot of cases but church and the worship experience is more than a sermon or lesson. You are meeting with God and his people.
I’ve had the experience of attending numerous live events, baseball, basketball, football, concerts. The live encounters are a whole different kind of energy and experience.
Meeting with God and his people, you never know how he will show up in those encounters. There are some things you can’t get watching online or sitting in front of a television.
Nurturing Spiritual Health for Business Success:
If success is becoming hard or you can’t see it is possible, God is the one who will help you through. He is your number 1 source and if you keep connected to Him your life and business will have no choice but to flourish and prosper.
Spiritual growth plays a crucial role in personal and business success. It’s about growing in your relationship with God, finding meaning and purpose for your life that aligns your actions with your core values according to God. By doing so, you can achieve a sense of fulfillment and drive business success.
The role of consistent faith, prayer, and spiritual practices helps to guide you in proper leadership values, decision making and ethical business conduct.
For many decades, since its opening businesses like Chick-Fil-A have chosen to close their doors on Sundays. The founder S. Truett Cathy, saw the importance of closing on Sundays so that he and his employees could set aside one day to rest, enjoy time with their families and loved ones or worship if they choose.
Even if you begin to think about the millions of dollars that’s being lost by them not being open on Sundays. Despite that, you cannot deny their success and impact they have made in the economy and their industry.
Overcoming Guilt and Prioritizing Self-Care:
Throughout all of this, you will face challenges that oppose prioritizing church attendance and focusing on your spiritual life.
There’s the guilt of falling behind in your business or things like missing important deadlines or even the dreadful idea of disappointing clients or customers.
What about the feeling of inadequacy? Where customers or clients have great demands but they see you’re a person that chooses their faith and church attendance over business and work commitments. Obviously, this brings about thoughts about your competitors that are available at any given time. Which can put you in the position of losing out business opportunities.
Through all of that, I still highlight the importance of self-care, setting boundaries, in order for you avoid burnout which eventually leads to you becoming ineffective. So, don’t procrastinate, but do the things that will help you to maintain a healthy spiritual life and overall well-being.
This is where I encourage you to release those feelings of guilt and trust God to be your provider and CEO of your life and business.
Investing in Eternal Priorities:
As you are aiming for good success now, let me remind you that it is still a temporal thing. I want you to focus on eternal priorities. God has enabled you to be in position to be in business to advance his will and kingdom here on earth.
As you come in contact with every customer, client, and even employees you have been connected to them for a higher purpose. I always believe that your business is also a ministry. As you invest in your spiritual health, see yourself ministering God’s love and goodness to others in your world as you build treasures in heaven.
So I encourage you to evaluate yourself and your priorities. ”For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?“ – Matthew 16:26 (KJV).
Let’s recap, when you intentionally prioritize your spiritual growth and health, you invest in corporate gatherings for worship, preaching & teachings of the truth, advance God’s kingdom, build better communities, accountability and encouragement.
You also help in provoking others to love and to good works while encouraging one another. Throughout all this, you value the importance of self-care, setting boundaries, in order for you to avoid burnout.
I do encourage you to prioritize your church attendance and involvement as you consider the benefits I mentioned and more.
See you again soon.
Take care until………and God Bless ya
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