Independence

But we urge you, brothers, to ado this more and more, and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one. -- 1 Thessalonians 4:10-12 (ESV)

Business Management

Honest Sales

It is better to have a little, honestly earned, than to have a large income, dishonestly gained. -- Proverbs 16:8 (GNT) & Proverbs 28:6

The LORD wants weights and measures to be honest and every sale to be fair. -- Proverbs 16:11 (GNT)

If you have to choose between a good reputation and great wealth, choose a good reputation. -- Proverbs 22:1 (GNT)

Be honest and you will be safe. If you are dishonest, you will suddenly fall. -- Proverbs 28:18 (GNT)

Honest people will lead a full, happy life. But if you are in a hurry to get rich, you are going to be punished. -- Proverbs 28:20 (GNT)

Liabilities

As a creditor (lends money)

At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release. And this is the manner of the release: every creditor shall release what he has lent to his neighbor. He shall not exact it of his neighbor, his brother, because the Lord’s release has been proclaimed. Of a foreigner you may exact it, but whatever of yours is with your brother your hand shall release. But there will be no poor among you. -- Deuteronomy 15:1-4 (ESV)

Strictly speaking this law was written for the Israelites in Moses' time and these laws might no longer apply today. The principle is that God do not want us to place our fellow believers (brothers) under financial bondage. If you believe this law is still applicable today, it might imply that if your "brother" cannot repay you after 7 years, you ought to write his/her debt it off.

If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be.

Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, ‘The seventh year, the year of release is near,’ and your eye look grudgingly on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry to the Lord against you, and you be guilty of sin.

You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore, I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’

-- Deuteronomy 15:7-11 (ESV)

There is a misconception that believers are not allowed to lend money to the poor. That they have to donate everything. This scripture proof the contrary and consider lending as also "generous" and "helping". The difference is that you are not allowed to profit from the poor, i.e. oppress and/or keep under bondage. The purpose should be to help the poor not yourself.

I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread. He is ever lending generously, and his children become a blessing. -- Psalm 37:25-26 (ESV)

A good man deals graciously and lends; He will guide his affairs with discretion. Surely he will never be shaken. -- Psalm 112:5 (NKJV)

As a debtor (owes money)

You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow, and you shall rule over many nations, but they shall not rule over you. -- Deuteronomy 15:6 (ESV)

My child, suppose you agree to pay the debt of someone, who cannot repay a loan. Then you are trapped by your own words, and you are now in the power of someone else. Here is what you should do: Go and beg for permission to call off the agreement. Do this before you fall asleep or even get sleepy. Save yourself, just as a deer or a bird tries to escape from a hunter. -- Proverbs 6:1-4 CEV

Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do so. Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come back, And tomorrow I will give it, ” When you have it with you. -- Proverbs 3:27 NKJV

It’s a dangerous thing to guarantee payment for someone’s debts. Don’t do it! -- Proverbs 11:15 CEV

You deserve to lose your coat if you loan it to someone to guarantee payment for the debt of a stranger. -- Proverbs 20:16 CEV

The poor are ruled by the rich, and those who borrow are slaves of moneylenders -- Proverbs 22:7 (GNT)

If you don’t have the money, you might lose your bed. -- Proverbs 22:26-27 CEV

Don’t build your house and establish a home until your fields are ready, and you are sure that you can earn a living. -- Proverbs 24:27 (GNT)

Don’t loan money to a stranger unless you are given something to guarantee payment. -- Proverbs 27:13 CEV

Hiring workers

Better to be lowly and have a servant than to play the great man and lack bread. -- Proverbs 12:9 (ESV)

Without any oxen to pull the plow your barn will be empty, but with them it will be full of grain. -- Proverbs 14:4 (GNT)

An employer who hires any fool that comes along is only hurting everybody concerned. -- Proverbs 26:10 (GNT)

“Do not rob or take advantage of anyone. Do not hold back the wages of someone you have hired, not even for one night.” -- Lev 19:13 (GNT)

But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality. Masters, give your bondservants [voluntary servant/worker] what is just and fair, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven. -- Col 3:25-4:1 (NKJV)

Customers’ complaints

The customer always complains that the price is too high, but then he goes off and brags about the bargain he got. -- Proverbs 20:14 (GNT)

Taxes

Everyone must obey state authorities, because no authority exists without God’s permission, and the existing authorities have been put there by God.

Whoever opposes the existing authority opposes what God has ordered; and anyone who does so will bring judgement on himself. For rulers are not to be feared by those who do evil. Would you like to be unafraid of those in authority?

Then do what is good, and they will praise you, because they are God’s servants working for your own good. But if you do evil, then be afraid of them, because their power to punish is real. They are God’s servants and carry out God’s punishment on those who do evil.

For this reason you must obey the authorities – not just because of God’s punishment, but also as a matter of conscience.

That is also why you pay taxes, because the authorities are working for God when they fulfill their duties. Pay, then, what you owe them; pay them your personal and property taxes, and show respect and honor for them all.

-- Romans 13:1-7 (GNT)

Time management

A sensible person gathers the crops when they are ready; it is a disgrace to sleep through the time of harvest. -- Proverbs 10:5 (GNT)

A hard-working farmer has plenty to eat, but it is stupid to waste time on useless projects. -- Proverbs 12:11 (GNT) & Proverbs 28:19

Planning

Wise people live in wealth and luxury, but stupid people spend their money as fast as they get it. -- Proverbs 21:20 (GNT)

You cut the hay and then cut the grass on the hillsides while the next crop of hay is growing. You can make clothes from the wool of your sheep and buy land with the money you get from selling some of your goats. The rest of the goats will provide milk for you and your family and for your servant women as well. -- Proverbs 27:25-27 (GNT)

Investments

Cast your bread on the waters; for you shall find it after many days. -- Ecclesiastes 11:1 MKJV

Some possible explanations of this version by various commentators:

• The author of Ecclesiastes was actually borrowing his imagery from Egyptian lore, in which the world of business is seen as an ocean and your wealth is seen as your bread. Therefore, one should be willing to take the risk of putting their money into the economy (casting your bread upon the waters) with the expectation of receiving a return on their investment (e.g. catching a large amount of fish with a little amount of bread).
• The author may be advising the reader to trade grain by sea (a profitable venture for those who are already affluent)
• He may be referring to charity work (for example feeding the ducks at the pond) in which you cast your bread upon the waters and expect nothing in return.
• If you cast out some food onto the water, you will catch a fish. Making the little food you spent more plentiful
• Others believe it refers to casting seed on the shallow areas of a river, with the hope that some will take root.

Whatever the true meaning of the idiom is, it seems like all commentators understood that the author intended to encourage investments.

Once there was a man who was about to leave home on a trip; he called his servants and put them in charge of his property. He gave to each one according to his ability:

• to one he gave five thousand gold coins,
• to another he gave two thousand, and
• to another he gave one thousand.

Then he left on his trip.

The servant who had received five thousand coins went at once and invested his money and earned another five thousand. In the same way the servant who had received two thousand coins earned another two thousand. But the servant who had received one thousand coins went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money.

After a long time the master of those servants came back and settled accounts with them. The servant who had received five thousand coins came in and handed over the other five thousand. “You gave me five thousand coins, sir,” he said. “Look! Here are another five thousand that I have earned.” “Well done, you good and faithful servant!” said the master. “You have been faithful in managing small amounts, so I will put you in charge of large amounts. Come on in and share my happiness!”

Then the servant who had been given two thousand coins came in and said, “You gave me two thousand coins, sir. Look! Here are another two thousand that I have earned.” “Well done, you good and faithful servant!” said his master. “You have been faithful in managing small amounts, so I will put you in charge of large amounts. Come on in and share my happiness!”

Then the servant who had received one thousand coins came in and said, “Sir, I know you are a hard man; you reap harvests where you did not plant, and you gather crops where you did not scatter seed. I was afraid, so I went off and hid your money in the ground. Look! Here is what belongs to you.”

“You bad and lazy servant!” his master said. “You knew, did you, that I reap harvests where I did not plant, and gather crops where I did not scatter seed? Well, then, you should have deposited my money in the bank, and I would have received it all back with interest when I returned. Now, take the money away from him and give it to the one who has ten thousand coins. For to every person who has something, even more will be given, and he will have more than enough; but the person who has nothing, even the little that he has will be taken away from him. As for this useless servant – throw him outside in the darkness; there he will cry and gnash this teeth.”

-- Matthew 25:14-30 (GNT)

Risk Management

Give a portion to seven, or even to eight, for you know not what disaster may happen on earth. -- Ecclesiastes 11:2 (ESV)

Look after your sheep and cattle as carefully as you can, because wealth is not permanent. Not even nations last forever. -- Proverbs 27:23-24 (GNT)

When to invest

When the clouds are full, it rains. If you wait until the wind and the weather are just right, you will never plant anything and never harvest anything. God make everything, and you can no more understand what he does than you understand how new life begins in the womb of a pregnant woman. Do your planting in the morning and in the evening, too. You never know whether it will all grow well or whether one planting will do better than the other. -- Ecclesiastes 11:3-6 (GNT)

Losing an investment

There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt; or those riches perish by some evil circumstance, and if he has begotten a son, there is nothing in his hand. -- Ecclesiastes 5:13-14 (Darby)

Generosity

Therefore, God expects the rich believers to be generous to the poor:

Then the King will say to the people on his right, “Come you that are blessed by my Father! Come and possess the kingdom which has been prepared for you ever since the creation of the world. I was hungry and you fed me, thirsty and you gave me a drink; I was a stranger and you received me in your homes, naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you took care of me, in prison and you visited me.”

The righteous will then answer him, “When, Lord, did we ever see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? When did we ever see you a stranger and welcome you in our homes, or naked and clothe you? When did we ever see you sick or in prison, and visit you?”

The King will reply, “I tell you, whenever you did this for one of the least important of these followers of mine, you did it for me!”

Then he will say to those on his left, “Away from me, you that are under God’s curse! Away to the eternal fire which has been prepared for the Devil and his angels! I was hungry but you would not feed me, thirsty but you would not give me a drink; I was a stranger but you would not welcome me in your homes, naked but you would not clothe me; I was sick and in prison but you would not take care of me.”

Then they will answer him, “When, Lord, did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and we would not help you?”

The King will reply, “I tell you, whenever you refused to help one of these least important ones, you refused to help me.” These, then, will be sent off to eternal punishment, but the righteous will go to eternal life. -- Matthew 25:34-46 (GNT)

“And if your brother becomes poor and is not able to make a living, then you are to keep him with you, helping him as you would a man from another country who is living among you. Take no interest from him, in money or in goods, but have the fear of your God before you, and let your brother make al living among you. Do not take interest on the money which you let him have or on the food which you give him. I am the Lord your God, who took you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan, that I might be your God. And if your brother becomes poor and gives himself to you for money, do not make use of him like a servant who is your property; But let him be with you as a servant working for payment, till the year of Jubilee;” -- Lev 25:35-40 BBE

Happy are those who are concerned for the poor; the LORD will help them when they are in trouble. The LORD will protect them and preserve their lives; he will make them happy in the land; he will not abandon them to the power of their enemies. -- Psalm 41:1-2 (GNT)

Kindness shown to the poor is an act of worship. -- Proverbs 14:31 (GNT)

There is the one who [generously] scatters [abroad], and yet increases all the more; And there is the one who withholds what is justly due, but it results only in want and poverty. The generous man [is a source of blessing and] shall be prosperous and enriched, And he who waters will himself be watered [reaping the generosity he has sown]. The people curse him who holds back grain [when the public needs it], But a blessing [from God and man] is upon the head of him who sells it. He who diligently seeks good seeks favor and grace, But he who seeks evil, evil will come to him. -- Proverbs 11:24-27 (AMP)

A business could either

• have the greedy goal to make as much profit as possible regardless the effect it might have on the community (e.g. withholding food) OR
• a business could serve a community even at its own cost if that is the business' goal.

Unused fields could yield plenty of food for the poor, but unjust people keep them from being farmed. -- Proverbs 13:23 (GNT)

Donations

The righteous shows mercy, and gives. -- Psalm 37:21 (GNT)

When you give to the poor, it is like lending to the LORD, and the LORD will pay you back. -- Proverbs 19:17 (GNT)

Sacrifices

Honor Yahweh with your possessions (wealth) and the firstfruits (chief/best/choice part) of all your increase (profit). So will be filled your barns (storehouse) with plenty new wine and your vats will overflow. -- Proverbs 3:9-10

This was applicable to the tithing laws. The principle was to give the Levites the best part of their stock and not the scraps or leftovers as they were dependent on the other Israeli tribes sacrifices because they owed no farming land like the other tribes.

Priorities

But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. -- 1 Timothy 5:8

Paul's advice is to provide first to your own household, then to your relatives, then to strangers. It does not make sense to sacrifice your household's time, money or any other resources to please strangers when your own household is in need.

Gratefulness

We leave this world just as we entered it --- with nothing. In spite of all our work there is nothing we can take with us. It isn’t right! We go just as we came. We labor, trying to catch the wind, and what do we get? We get to live our lives in darkness and grief, worried, angry, and sick.

Here is what I have found out: the best thing we can do is eat and drink and enjoy what we have worked for during the short life that God has given us: this is our fate. If God gives us wealth and property and lets us enjoy them,

1. we should be grateful and
2. enjoy what we have worked for.

It is a gift from God. Since God has allowed us to be happy, we will not worry too much about how short life is. -- Ecclesiastes 5:15-20 (GNT)

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” -- Hebrews 13:5 (ESV)