Alex Miranda
- Apr 9, 2018
- 2 min read

Business Partnerships Are Hard: Part 3 – This Poison is Killing the Business

Updated: Oct 22

When I’m doing a job for a client, sometimes I hire subcontractors to speed up the process and get the work done by a specialist. These contractors are, mostly, partnering with me for a short period of time on a project. They would be considered temporary business partners.

There have been a few times that I haven’t been satisfied with their work. I take responsibility for things I didn’t do, and I try to move on so we can keep doing a great job together. But I don’t always entirely move on. A little piece of the mistake they did lingers inside of me and carry it on to the next project.

Partnerships are hard because we’re stubborn people and we like to hold on to grudges, past hurts, and mistakes, even after a sincere apology. Genuinely forgiving an apologizing business partner is hard work.

Why is it hard for us entrepreneurs to move on when we’ve been wronged in the past? Here’s a short list of maybes

We think the apology isn’t sincere, probably because we, ourselves, have been insincere apologizing to someone in the past
Since this probably isn’t the first time the partner wrongs us, we see a trend, and we’re wary of the sincerity
Are we enabling more of the mistakes when we forgive?
Let’s be honest, staying angry gives us a Dog I the next big showdown. We can bring up the past hurts as evidence for negotiating things the way you want them. Your hurt becomes an asset.

But God says there’s a better way for us.

The Bible says

“Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you” (Colossians 3:13).

When you hold on to anger, it poisons your soul and the soul of the business. You end up telling other partners or employees, and it begins to create a culture of hostility. The toxins marinating inside of you will even affect your own roles and responsibilities to the partnership.

I know when I hold on to anger, I’m not able to see the very gifts and values for my business which I hired that subcontractor for, and it keeps me from seeing his efforts to make things better and grow in his craft.

So, how do we break it? How do we let go?

We remember the massive debt that Jesus paid to forgive us. It pales in comparison. If we are unforgiving, we risk God doing the same on something for us. In His holy sanctification, God will do whatever He needs to do to make us more like Him.

Godpreneurs let unforgiven go and let God change our hearts so that our businesses can grow.

#BusinessPartnerships #BusinessBibleStudy