How Your Body Helps Your Business Grow
I'm a CrossFit athlete. I'm pretty good at most exercises...except running. Guys run laps around me. If a workout has run in it, I've already concluded that I won't be finishing in the top spots that day.
Plus, running is emotionally painful! My mind drifts to 1,000 places. I either become anxious from thinking about things I need to do that day or get depressed with regret from not training my endurance more. As more runners whisk on by me and fade away to where I can't see them anymore, it discourages me even more.
However, I've changed my mindset on running. I've turned the corner on my negative thoughts. Instead of letting my mind sprint into loser-land, I've stopped listening to what my mind says about running, and I've started to focus on what my body has to do to run better.
See, by focusing on my breathing, engaging my core, loosening my grip, running on my toes, lifting my knees, opening my chest, increasing my stride, and leaning into my run, I've been able to stay in my lane and finish workouts faster and with more confidence.
I stopped listening to my mind and started focusing on my body - the temple of the holy spirit. I stopped letting the enemy have control of my run, and I've let the power of my spirit keep me company instead.
Entrepreneurship in the Spirit - being fully present right now - comes down to our ability to get out of our minds and into our bodies. The enemy's power is just one of many reasons that it’s important entrepreneurs separate ourselves from our mind and pay closer attention to our body.
Why?
The mind is where the enemy dwells and is responsible for any pain and suffering we feel in the business. It produces pain by continually planning for the future or bringing up memories of the past, occupying moments of our day with anxiety-ridden future scenarios or regretful memories. The mind prevents us from Godpreneurship - entrepreneurship in the present presence of the holy spirit.
The result is that since we can’t alter the past or the future of our business decisions, we constantly worry about things we can’t possibly change. And that leads to pain.
The conclusion is to get out of our minds. We need to find a way to diminish the enemy's power in our minds and reduce some of its control.
How to Leave the Mind to be Present with the Spirit
By shifting our focus from the mind to the body - the temple where the holy spirit dwells - we can leave the mind and be present with our God-given holy spirit.
The Bible writes a lot about the importance of focusing on the body rather than the mind.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says
“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”
Paul elevates our bodies to the level of being temples, holy places, that house the Spirit of God. God gives His Spirit to every person who trusts in Christ for salvation (Ephesians 1:13–14).
Mysteriously, we carry God's Spirit in our bodies.
With that in mind, Paul now adds, they are not really our bodies, after all. He will write in the following verse that God purchased us. He paid for our redemption from sin with the blood of Jesus (Ephesians 1:7). Christ bought our way out of the curse of living under the law of Moses by becoming a curse Himself (Galatians 3:13).
In that sense, we came to belong to God when we came to Him by faith in Jesus. That's why our bodies are not our own to do with as we please, but instead a temple to worship our Savior that freed us from the mental captivity of the enemy.
The Holy Spirit knows what's best for you and your business. By listening to your body, you can get a very clear sense of present decision-making. Your body will tell you what is important. Have you ever had goosebumps? That's the spirit showing itself through your skin.
When it comes to the mind, we have one job: to keep our mindset on the holy spirit's PRESENT guidance - the immediate task at hand.
The power of entrepreneurship in the spirit comes from focusing on the body as a temple. This keeps the mind from slipping into the control of the enemy.