"Let those who love the Lord hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked." Psalm 97: 10
"Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted." That seems a little unusual. Is Jesus telling us to go around mourning, and if so, over what? I think Jesus' intent is to say comfort will come to those who are hurting and to those who are deeply sorry for the sin in their lives and in the world around them. Maybe He is saying blessed are those who grieve over the wrong in the world.
In business, I believe it is to care deeply for our employees, fellow workers, clients, customers, and yes, our competitors. We care so much about them that we are literally in mourning over their condition. Do we see people like this? Sometimes we do, but probably not often. The reason can be that we may be to consumed with our own condition that we don't have time or thought for others.
To be able to get into the life of another person we must first learn to love God. To love God is to honor Him, to seek His presence and His principles. When we love God, we are willing to put ourselves aside and look to the interest of both God and those in whom we come in contact in the marketplace. When we love our employees, customers, and all those we deal with in the marketplace, we are simply saying we are willing to be concerned about their physical and spiritual condition.
But it is also to mourn over situations we see in the business community that are not God pleasing. It is to hate the greed, lack of ethics, and corruption that seems to be so prevalent in todays economy. "For I, the Lord, love justice: I hate robbery and iniquity." Isaiah 61: 8a In todays culture, it is easy to become numb to the sin and hurt around us. We get use to a new way of doing things, a new way of living. What was once considered evil, now gives us no cause to mourn.
Tim is an attorney in Charlotte with a successful law practice. As a result of Biblical principles he studied concerning law suits, Tim became very concerned about Christians view on suing other Christians, as well as non-Christians. His concern became so deep that he formed a ministry to teach how business people could use arbitration as a means of settling disputes. Today, Tim travels all over the country conducting arbitration hearings and teaching it's concepts.
Once we are able to be poor in spirit, then we are in a position to mourn, not only over our on condition, but also over others, and especially the conditions in our marketplace. Jesus has promised us that when we really ache for righteousness and feel deep sorrow for the wrongs in our lives, He will be there to comfort. True mourning, however, produces action on our part to remedy the situations, and in so doing, God will offer His comfort.
