Kenneth Copeland — Be Not Slothful in Business
Be kindly affectioned one to another with
brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;
not slothful in business; fervent in spirit;
serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope; patient
in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;
distributing to the necessity of saints; given to
hospitality (Romans 12:10-13).
God wants us, you and me, to do business. He
wants us to do business in honor, in the spirit of the
covenant He has given us.
In the spirit, we are covenanted together because
we are part of the covenant that Jesus has with the
Father. We are in Him—in Jesus.
Is Jesus in you? Are you in Him? He is in me, and
I am in Him. If you and I are in Him, then we are in
Him together. If He is in me and in you, then you are
in me and I am in you.
This has some consequences.
One Body, One Honor
For as the body is one, and hath many members,
and all the members of that one body,
being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For
by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body,
whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be
bound or free; and have been all made to drink
into one Spirit.
For the body is not one member,
but many…. And whether one member suffer,
all the members suffer with it; or one member
be honored, all the members rejoice with it.
Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in
particular (1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 26-27).
The Bible says that all of us together make up the
Body of Christ; and if one member of the Body suffers,
we all suffer. For me to dishonor you affects not only
you, but also me. It affects the whole Body of Christ. If
one of us is honored, or honorable, we all share in that
honor. Likewise, if one of us dishonors himself, there
are negative consequences for all of us.
God has the power to turn over all the world’s
finances to us. Until now we have not been worthy of
that kind of trust. We would have used that wealth on
ourselves. We would have squandered it and used it
foolishly, until the devil got hold of it all again.
If all the wealth in the world were divided evenly,
every man, woman and child on the face of the earth
would receive several million dollars. The figure goes
up each day as more assets are discovered. If those
assets were evenly distributed today to every individual
in the world, in a year’s time or so the ones who
control it now would have it all back. Unfortunately,
that’s also true of the Body of Christ and it shouldn’t
be that way. God’s blessings are for every person in
Christ Jesus, not just a few.
We are one Body in Christ and each one is a
member of the others.
God has given us definite instructions: “Be kindly
affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in
honour preferring one another… distributing to the
necessity of saints…” (Romans 12:10, 13). We are to
honor one another—and the Lord—with our material
blessings.
God has given you the same thing He has given
me. I have to respect the fact that you have eternal life,
which only God can give. He bestowed it upon you
just as He bestowed it upon me. I have to respect you,
because I respect God. The Bible says that if we love
the Father who begat, we love him also who is begotten
of Him (1 John 5:1).
I don’t love you because you are lovable, or because
you are not lovable. I love you because you are born
of God. God has honored you with His life, His Name
and His Spirit. How can I do any less? It really makes
no difference how I see your conduct—whether I
think it is right or wrong. I am to deal with my conduct,
which is regulated by the covenant I have
with Almighty God.
God is the only One who has the right to judge.
You and I do not. It does not matter if we think the
other person is right or wrong. It’s none of our business.
Whose business is it? God’s.
I asked the Lord one time, “What is the biggest
problem in the Body of Christ?” I didn’t expect to
hear what I heard. He answered me quickly, without
hesitation: Your dogged determination to correct
one another. It’s the biggest problem in the Body
of Christ. It stops more healings, more faith, more
power, more of everything. Our dogged determination
to correct people that we have no authority
over is dishonorable.
