Why are you in business? Is it because you don’t like being told what to do? Did you want to always be your own boss? Did you discover one day you had a gift or talent that could make you money so you opened up your own business? Did you think you would get rich or make a lot of money? Perhaps you lost your job after 10, 15, or even 20 years and decided your fate would never be in the hands of another? Whatever pushed you into your purpose of entrepreneurship, did you know that the one of the greatest gifts that we could give to another is to serve them?

Remember in John 13:3-15, when Jesus washed the feet of His disciples in an act of servant hood to show them how very much He loved them. After Jesus completed washing all of His disciples’ feet, He told them they needed to follow His example as their Lord and Teacher and wash one another’s feet (John 13:14). I believe what Jesus was saying was unless we are willing to serve one another, we have no true part in Him or in each other. If we love someone to the highest degree, we will be willing to serve that person. Isn’t that what our clients and customers are? We exist to serve them. In our relationship with Him, Jesus calls us to sacrifice our self-will. We are not to be served, but to serve. We are to be sensitive to other people’s needs, even in little thiings. We, like Jesus, should seek to serve others rather than merely letting them serve us. When we have people in our lives who serve us in various ways, we should always treat then with the utmost respect and be good to them.

Put the word to work, and ask not what can I get today, but what can I give.

Suggested Reading:

Unleashing Excellence

Dennis Snow. Wiley 2009, Hardcover, 256 pages, $14.20

Invisible Profits

Robert Moment. The Moment Group 2007, Paperback, 104 pages, $19.95

The Bible is full of stories where its characters were told not to fear. Some were told not to fear by God and doing so would only get disapproval by the Lord. But is the act or disposition of fear in a person deemed as a sin? There is no mention of fear in the 10 commandments. In many Bible passages we are commanded to fear God. Just what is fear in relation to sin?

There are Three Types of Fear in the Bible

You will find throughout the Bible that fear comes in basically three different categories. The first category is fear from a lack of trust in God, the second is reverent fear of God himself, and the third is an instinctive fear placed in us by our Creator to avoid danger. The first category of fear is the one we as Christians should not have.

Fear that is Healthy for You

We’re referring to the fear that is healthy for us to avoid danger. We don’t place our hands on a hot stove because we know we will be burned. We don’t walk too close to the edge of a cliff or bridge because we might fall. We don’t corner a stray dog because we might get attacked. This is fear that is wired into us by God’s design and is not sin at all.

When Healthy Fear Becomes Sin

In many instances the fear that God does not want you to have is also the same fear that God wired into us to protect ourselves. You might ask what kind of double-speak this is? But actually, it is the beauty of the power of God. He helps you overcome fear that naturally you should have.

For example, when Jesus wanted Peter to walk on the water, he wanted him not to have a natural fear that he was created with. That fear was the fear of drowning. But this is how God shows us he has conquered fear.

Fearless is Not Analogous to Insanity

Also understand that Peter knew exactly what Jesus was telling him to do. It was the same for many Bible characters where they were told by God to fear not. The point is that if you jump from a tall building thinking that God will save you just because you had no fear, you will probably die. God probably didn’t tell you to jump from the building.

Many differ on opinion here, but God gave you common sense too. Learn to discern when God is telling you to do something and when he is not. The key is asking for wisdom and guidance in decision making.

Fear is usually a Predecessor to Sin

Probably the biggest problem with fear that makes it closely-related to sin is that throughout the Bible, it is usually a predecessor to disobedience to God and therefore leads to sin. Take for example the Israelites when they thought Moses had died upon the mountain. They feared and then got involved in all sorts of idolatry and immorality. Yet it was not the fear but the lack of trust in God, idolatry and immorality that were the sins.

Fear is an Indicator of a Heart Problem

It could be said that fear is like a symptom of something serious going on in a person’s heart towards God. It is best described in 1 John 4:

18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

So, is fear sin? No. Fear is more of a symptom or reaction to a heart problem in your relationship towards God. If you love God, and have childlike faith and trust in God, it should cast that fear out of you. Overtime, you should find yourself fearing less as God fills your heart with his love.

Suggested Reading:

Fear Not Tomorrow, God Is Already There

Ruth Graham. Howard Books 2009, Hardcover, 288 pages, $5.88

Fearless

Max Lucado. Thomas Nelson 2009, Hardcover, 240 pages, $11.95

Here are a few of the main editorial guidelines for posting content on TheProsperMagazine.com.

Your content:
1. Should be at least 250 words, with an ideal size of 400 or more words. Articles under 400 words will most likely NOT appear on the index.
2. Must be original and be created by you and must not have been submitted or posted elsewhere on the web.
3. Must not be a sales document, advertisement or any other type of promotional document.
4. Must be written in proper English with correct spelling, grammar and structure.
5. Must not be derogatory, hateful, pornographic or defamatory in any manner.
6. Must not have external links in the first paragraph. Links to other The Prosper Magazine content is ok.
7. Maximum of 2 self-serving links per article.
8. Must include biblical references from the bible, either scripture(s) or a parable(s) in each article, except product reviews.
9. Topics can range from personal development, personal finance, business management and spiritual development.

If you follow these simple steps your article should have no problem getting published. For more in depth description and complete list of rules please visit the The Prosper Magazine Editorial Guidelines.

Suggested Reading:

Do the Web Write

Dan Furman. Self Counsel Press 2009, Paperback, 180 pages, $11.98

Content Rich

Jon Wuebben. Encore Publishing 2008, Hardcover, 270 pages, $12.51

Search Engine Optimization All-in-One For Dummies

Bruce Clay. For Dummies 2009, Paperback, 768 pages, $23.52

Editorial Guidelines for Submitting To TheProsperMagazine.com

These editorial guidelines are designed to help you understand what we accept and don’t accept for inclusion in our site. Before you submit to TheProsperMagazine.com, we would appreciate if you would please read this page first.

1. TheProsperMagazine.com Editorial Guidelines: (CONTENT QUALIFICATIONS)

To Be Qualified For Our Site, your Article:

a. MUST BE AN ORIGINAL ARTICLE WRITTEN BY YOU. Only submit content that you have written and or hold the copyrights too.
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c. MUST BE informative and share your expertise. Include tips, strategies, techniques, case-studies, analysis, opinions and commentary in your articles. Do not waste time by submitting mostly quoted material, we are looking for unique content.
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i. MUST NOT be a submission of the exact same article as one that you already submitted. Some authors have submitted the same article multiple times with only a few words changed in the body — we reject these and ban authors who engage in this practice.
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l. MUST NOT contain any other religion content than Christianity.

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xii. We do not accept One Word as the article TITLE, a MINIMUM of two unique words is required.
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ii. Avoid “Self-Serving” links in the first paragraph of articles. This is subjective and up to the discretion of your manager. If you choose to place a link in the first paragraph of your article your article may be approved with the link removed from your content.
iii. Maximum of (2) active or inactive non-self serving links/URLs to a website that you do not own, control, or have an interest in which adds value to the article.
iv. Confine your self-serving links to your SIGNATURE BOX unless the link provides value to reader. The article BODY is your “GIVE” and the SIGNATURE BOX is your “TAKE.”
v.
vi. We do not accept links that use HTML to add style attributes to the link, URL, or text link description.
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vii. We will auto format valid URLs included in your SIGNATURE BOX.
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x. Your links MAY NOT contain a file to be downloaded of any type.
xi. We do not knowingly allow any URLs in any of our articles that are banned by Google or if your website engages in questionable SEO practices — we may reject your articles.
xii. We do not accept articles that have the same ACTIVE link more than once. Do not submit duplicate URLs.
xiii. We do not allow articles which have strategic keyword anchor text links in the body to your domain that do not add informational value to the article. Any use of anchored text links to websites that you own should add value to the article topic rather than stand out as an obvious abuse of anchored text link. The goal with this policy is to be a good net citizen by only allowing articles that add value with the anchored text links rather than for pure SEO reasons. Please limit your anchor text link length to 3 words.

Example: Within your article, you link the word “bird dog” to an article that you wrote about bird dogging. This is a good example of an anchored text link vs. linking the same text to your home page as it doesn’t really add value.

xiv. We will not accept articles with links (in the Article Body or Signature Box) to adult-oriented websites, including but not limited to websites that include pornography, adult-oriented sexual content.
xv. We do not allow links to websites that are under construction. Websites must be active and have content in order for you to link to them from your article. We will reject your article if it contains a link of this nature.

4. TAGS: Adding the top keywords related to your article helps us to bring more traffic to your article.
i. Please make sure you put a line break between each TAG.
ii. Ideally, your tags should be optimized based on the most commonly searched keywords as published by Google.com for your particular niche. It helps to use a good keyword research tool to help you determine which ones are best to use.
iii. You should have a minimum of 2 Tags and a maximum of 5.
iv. We do not accept tags that are completely unrelated to the content of your article.

5. CATEGORY:
i. ARTICLE CATEGORY or SUB-CATEGORY: Please choose the best category or sub category based on the theme of your article and not the theme of your business. Here are some general hints on how to select the best category for categories that are often confused.

3. TheProsperMagazine.com Editorial Guidelines: (AFFILIATE PROGRAMS):

Affiliate links will be NOT allowed if the link is to a domain name you own which forward/redirects to the affiliate link from the top-level of the domain name. Any link that links directly to an affiliate link will be reviewed for appropriateness. If we find that the link is inappropriate or hazardous to the user it will be removed.

Suggested Reading:

Do the Web Write

Dan Furman. Self Counsel Press 2009, Paperback, 180 pages, $11.98

Content Rich

Jon Wuebben. Encore Publishing 2008, Hardcover, 270 pages, $12.51

Search Engine Optimization All-in-One For Dummies

Bruce Clay. For Dummies 2009, Paperback, 768 pages, $23.52

Everyone knows that prices are high—especially where gasoline is concerned. And high gas prices affect prices on other goods and services too. So it is extremely tough for a young couple with small children just starting out. And this is the reason why both the husband and wife work outside of the home. They both need to work so that enough disposable income will come into the household to pay the expenses plus buy things for a better quality of life. But many young mothers want to stay at home with their young children during their formative years and are torn between having a career and being a mom.

If they have a career, they will help their family with living expenses at the expense of time with their children. If they are a mom and do not have a career, income will be low and they will have to struggle as a family. It is probably safe to say that your family needs multiple sources of income and expense management in order to be able to pay for everything. But those multiple sources of income should not be from both parents working outside of the home.

Let’s start with expense management or budgeting. Let’s start with the single most expensive money pit we have in our homes: the second car. Seriously consider getting rid of it or at least not driving it every day to work. Use public transportation. You are young—ride a bike. Look at how to cut your vehicle expenses by cutting your vehicles.

Generating any kind of significant income from home is difficult. Don’t believe those claims many make that you can earn thousands of dollars in a short time and do very little work. It will not happen. Honest home jobs usually are found in careers of writing, web design, language translation, and computer programming. And even if you have skills in these fields, you will find that trying to make any kind of significant income from home with them can consume many hours which will rob you from time you’re your children too.

The best is to find your niche and market your own product for selling outside of your home. That takes time too but you can set your own hours as you try to build product recognition and sell it. People working from home have been known to design creations in apparel and jewelry that they can sell from a website or catalog.

So your best bet in shaking off dependence on two incomes is to closely look at and cut nonessential household expenses and then look at ways to generate income from your home in such a way as to not consume too much of your time away from your small children.

Remember that the first years of your child are the formative years. This is a time when you will be able to form a special bond with your child and keep in mind that you will never get another chance to do it again. This is when you as a Christian parent will have the time you need to teach your child about God and be able to do it every day. Keep this Bible passage from Deuteronomy in mind:

Deuteronomy 6:7 (KJV) – And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

The verse tells us to teach the ways of the Lord to our children. When? You teach them when you sit in your house (at the dinner table), when you walk to and fro, when you lie down to rest, and when you get up in the morning (and feed your children breakfast). When both parents work outside of the home, they don’t have time to this. Remember, you do not get a chance to do it over with your kids.

Suggested Reading:

The Working Parents Handbook

Ellen Melinkoff (Contributor). Fireside 1996, Paperback, 320 pages, $2.94

Working Mom’s 411

Michelle LaRowe. Regal 2009, Paperback, 224 pages, $4.49