The 100% Rule Will Save Your Business and Marriage

I’ve learned over the years that if I don’t go “all in” on something, I might as well not make any commitment to it.

The problem with going halfway in on something is that my mind and heart are also only halfway in. My level of focus is cut in half, I’m halfway in, halfway out, I’m doing other things, and I’m not fully confident. It ends up showing.

Take CrossFit for example.

If you've followed me long enough, it’s obvious I love CrossFit. I don’t step into other gyms. I don’t subscribe to other ways of working out. I’m 100% committed to the philosophy, the training, the culture, the events, and the people. And guess what? It shows in my level of fitness performance and athletic ability (not so much in my stomach, I still eat terribly… Pray for me!)

Also, take my marriage for example.

When I first got married, I thought I was 100% committed, but I wasn’t. Theoretically, I was. But deep down, I had baggage. I had hurt from my past and doubt about my future. It wasn’t until I went all in, erased the notion of divorce, and committed myself fully to the institution of marriage when I began to reap the benefits God had for me all along.

And the same happened to me in business.

Once I decided to stick to one niche, one target market, with one message, and one overall plan of service, I began to reap the rewards of entrepreneurship. My commitment to one niche helped me serve that group the best way possible – the way God designed me to serve…the way He would serve them.

We married entrepreneurs need to ask ourselves, are we 100% committed to God and His plan for us? Many of us may think we’re giving God our best. We think it’s good enough to God if we pray, go to church, and attempt to be a good person.

The reality is that if we want to receive the fullness of marriage and business and the breakthroughs God promises He will deliver, then he needs our 100% commitment to Him.

God wants all of your marriage and business, not part of it.

Jesus said:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ (Mark 12:30 NIV)

Like with any new diet, new business, or a new relationship, if you don’t fully commit to the plan, you won’t get the results. That’s why I don’t have a six-pack stomach yet… I’m not committed to an eating plan. (Well, I am committed to a plan, just the wrong one!)

And with God, commitment to His plan the same thing.

Being partially obedient to God in your business or marriage is pretty much disobedience.

You might be holding on to a part of your business that God’s trying to get you out of. Stop clenching your fists and let it go. It takes trust and faith to do that. However, that’s the kind of obedience that gets rewarded.

Remember the story of Abraham and his son? God asked Abraham to sacrifice (kill) his son. Abraham obeyed. And seconds before the final act, God stops him abruptly and says “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son” (Genesis 22:12 NIV).

Abraham was more committed to God than holding on to his son. I’m not even sure I have THAT level of commitment myself!

The Bible is full of people committed to the cause. It’s also full of people not committed to God - but then turn their lives around, make the commitment, and become the heroes we read and talk about today.

You might be putting things, people, money, or your success before God. And just because you’re obedient in some areas, drop a little money in the bucket at church, and read a blog or two of mine, you’re good and that God’s still going to bless you. If He does, it’s because He’s showing you grace and continuing to give you chances to turn around, make the commitment, and give yourself to Him. But He won’t give you the full breakthrough you so eagerly desire until you give yourself fully to Him.

Some people think this act of giving ourselves up in obedience makes them feel like they are jailed up and unable to be free. Let me tell you:I have more freedom now than ever before. I’m free to do what I was born to do. I’m free to love my wife unconditionally. I’m free to run my business the way God intended and to reap the rewards of that. I’m free to love my child, employees, vendors, contractors, clients, and even competitors the way I’m supposed to love them. Now I feel like I’m OUT of the jail I was in before. My mind is free, my heart is alert, and I’ll never go back.

The irony is that the more you give up your old self to God, the more freedom your new self has.

When we Godpreneurs give all of our business and marriage to God, that’s an act of surrender and sacrifice. Like Abraham, we might not know what God is up to, but even when it doesn’t make sense, we need to obey.

If we give our marriage and business fully to God, he’ll return them to us restored, reunited, and ready to break through to new levels.

When Abraham thought the act of sacrificing his son was going to please God, God revealed that the commitment was greater than the sacrifice. That’s when the angel told Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky. One commitment to God turned into all the stars in the sky. Do you see it?

The bible says

If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land; (Isaiah 1:19 NIV)

The formula for success in marriage and business is right there. It’s called commitment to God. It’s called going all in for Christ. It’s called taking off our old self and putting on our Godpreneur self.

God is no different today than He was back in Abraham’s day. He’s looking across all of the earth picking out Godpreneurs who are committed. The moment we follow Him, surrender, and let go, God promises He will bless us with the breakthrough.