Principles of
Successful Business from Proverbs
By Gregory
Koukl
Principle #1: Exercise complete dependence on
God.
( 3:5-7 ) Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your
own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and he will make your
paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord, turn away from
evil.
( 16:3 ) Commit your works unto the Lord and your plans will be
established.
( 22:1 ) A good name is to be more desired than great riches.
Principle #2: Work
hard and stick to it, don't let laziness or sleep rob you of success.
WORK HARD:
( 13:11b ) The one who gathers by labor increases (wealth).
( 27:18 ) He who tends the fig tree will eat its fruit.
( 12:11 ) He who tills the land will have plenty of bread, but he who pursues
vain things will have poverty in plenty.
( 28:19 ) He who tills the land will have plenty of food, but he who follows
empty pursuits will have poverty in plenty.
( 18:19 ) He also who is slack in his work is brother to him to destroys.
( 21:25-26 ) The desire of the sluggard puts him to
death, for his hands refuse to work. All day long he is craving while the
righteous gives and does not hold back.
STICK TO IT:
( 12:24 ) The hand of the diligent will rule but the slack hand will be put to
forced labor.
( 12:27 ) A slothful man does not roast his prey, but the precious possession of
a man is diligence.
( 10:4 ) Poor is he who works with a negligent hand, but the hand of the
diligent makes rich.
DON'T BE LAZY:
( 19:15 ) Laziness casts into a deep sleep and an idle man will suffer hunger.
( 22:13 ) The sluggard says, "There is a lion outside. I shall be slain in
the streets."
( 10:26 ) Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is the lazy one to
those who send him.
( 30:15 ) The leech has two daughters, "Give", "Give"....
GET UP !
( 20:13 ) Do not love sleep, lest you become poor. Open your eyes and you will
be satisfied with food.
( 6:9-11 ) How long will you lie down, oh sluggard? When will you rise from your
sleep? "A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to
rest" -- and your poverty will come in like a vagabond and your need like
an armed man. (see also 24:33-34)
Principle #3: Exercise honesty and
uprightness in all business dealings.
DISHONESTY OFFENDS GOD:
( 11:1 ) A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is
His delight.
( 20:23 ) Differing weights are an abomination to the Lord, and a false scale is
not good.
( 16:11 ) A just balance and scales belong to the Lord, all the weights
of the bag are his concern.
( 20:10 ) Differing weights and differing measures, both of them are abominable
to the Lord.
DISHONESTY is BAD BUSINESS:
( 10:2a ) Ill-gotten gains do not profit.
( 13:11a ) Wealth obtained by fraud dwindles.
( 15:27a ) He who profits illicitly troubles his own house.
( 19:22b ) It is better to be a poor man than a liar....
( 20:17 ) Bread obtained by falsehood is sweet to a man, but afterward his mouth
will be filled with gravel.
( 21:6 ) The getting of treasure by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor, the
pursuit of death.
( 28:16b ) He who hates unjust gain will prolong his days.
Principle #4: Wise planning provides long
term stability.
( 21:5 ) The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage, but everyone who
is hasty comes surely to poverty.
LOOK to the LORD in YOUR PLANNING:
( 16:9 ) The mind of a man plans his way but the Lord directs his steps.
( 21:31 ) The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but the victory belongs
to the Lord.
SOW TIMELY to REAP BOUNTIFULLY:
( 6:6-8 ) Go to the ant, oh sluggard, observe her ways and be wise, which having
no chief, officer or ruler, prepares her food in the summer and gathers her
provision in harvest.
( 30:25 ) The ants are not strong folk, but they prepare their food in the
summer.
( 20:4 ) The sluggard does not plow after the autumn, so he begs during the
harvest and has nothing.
ORGANIZE YOUR EFFORTS:
( 24:27 ) Prepare your work outside and make it ready for yourself in the field.
Afterwards, then build your house.
( 27:23-24a ) Know well the condition of your flocks and
pay attention to your herds, for riches are not forever....
( 30:27 ) The locusts have no king, yet all of them go out in ranks.
BE A LEARNER:
( 24:4 ) By knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant
riches.
Principle #5: Be aware of both the advantages
and disadvantages of wealth.
( 30:8-9 ) Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food that is my
portion lest I be full and deny Thee and say ,"Who is the Lord?" or
lest I be in want and steal and profane the name of my God.
RICHES can GIVE YOU FAVOR and OPPORTUNITY:
( 19:4 ) Wealth adds many friends, but a poor man is separated from his
friends.
( 19:7 ) All the brothers of a poor man hate him. How much more do his friends
go far from him? He pursues them with words, but they are gone.
( 14:20 ) The poor is hated even by his neighbor, but those who love the rich
are many.
( 10:15 ) The rich man's wealth is his fortress. The ruin of the poor is their
poverty.
RICHES can PROVIDE a FALSE HOPE:
( 11:28 ) He who trusts in his riches will fall.
( 18:11 ) A rich man's wealth is his strong city and like a high wall in his own
imagination.
RICHES can be TEMPORARY and FLEETING:
( 23:4-5 ) Do not weary yourself to gain wealth, cease from your consideration of
it. When you set your eyes on it, it's gone. For wealth certainly makes itself
wings, like an eagle, that flies toward the heavens.
RICHES can breed EGOTISM and ARROGANCE:
( 18:23 ) The poor man utters supplications but the rich man answers roughly.
Principle #6: Generosity leads to financial
success.
GIVE to the LORD:
( 3:9-10 ) Honor the Lord from your wealth, and from the first of all your
produce, so your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats overflow with
new wine.
GIVE to OTHERS:
( 11:25 ) The generous man will be prosperous and he who waters will himself be
watered.
( 19:17 ) He who is gracious to a poor man lends to the Lord and He will repay
him for his good deed.
( 11:24a ) There is one who scatters yet increases all the more.
( 19:16 ) Many will entreat the favor of a generous man and every man is a
friend to him who gives gifts.
Principle #7: Avail yourself frequently of
wise counsel.
( 15:22 ) Without consultation, plans are frustrated, but with many counselors
they succeed.
( 20:18 ) Prepare plans by consultation and make war by wise guidance.
( 11:14 ) Where there is no guidance, the people fall, but in the abundance of
counselors, there is victory.
( 24:6 ) By wise guidance you will wage war, and in the abundance of
counselors, there is victory.
Principle #8: Act on each opportunity
presented you. Don't wait or procrastinate.
( 10:5 ) He who gathers in summer is a son who acts wisely, but he who sleeps
in harvest is a son who acts shamefully.
( 14:23 ) In all labor there is profit, but mere talk leads only poverty.
( 26:15 ) The sluggard buries his hand in the dish. He is weary of bringing it
to his mouth again.
( 19:24 ) The sluggard buries his hand in the dish and will not even bring it
back to his mouth.
Miscellaneous:
PAY your BILLS and your TAXES:
( 11:24 ) There is one who withholds what is justly due, but it results only in
want.
BEWARE of CREDIT:
( 22:7 ) The rich rules over the poor and the borrower become the lender's
slave.
DISCERN PROPER and IMPROPER ADVANTAGE:
( 22:16 ) He who oppresses the poor to make much for himself, or who gives to
the rich, will only come to poverty.
PURSUE EXCELLENCE:
( 22:29 ) Do you see a man who is skilled in his work? He will stand before
kings.
