The Founding Principles: Africa needs to make a profit

1 Corinthians 3:11 "For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ."

In Africa, if our poor people are getting poorer and our national economies are not performing, it must mean that we are producing very little and we are spending more than we are receiving and thus we are loosing wealth. It stands to reason that if we are not making profits it is very difficult to increase production because it takes capital (the fruit from profits) in order to expand our production enterprises. These principles apply at the smallest producer level all the way up through the large corporate levels to the national government level. Africa cannot develop until we are making a profit at all levels of production of the resources God has given us.
The alternatives
The only alternatives to making a profit are the ‘begging bowl’, or even more sadly ‘theft’, both of which cause greater poverty in the wider community. If we think that loans are the answer, these are pointless if we are not making profits with which to pay them back. Begging and theft both take the view that we must ‘get to receive’, but remember from our previous session that we must ‘give to receive’. This is God’s way. If we constantly expect to receive without being willing to give whether it means financially or simply in energy and effort, then we will not receive and the result is deeper poverty.


How do we make a profit?
The simple answer is that we need to ensure that we conduct our business in such a way that we will make a profit.

Proverbs 14:23 says, ‘All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.’
Can we be immensely brave and say that perhaps Africa is so poor because we are a people who are not willing to give by expending the necessary effort to work hard to turn a profit. We are wallowing in self-pity, which leads us to make excuses and blame everyone else for our distress. We must stand up and take responsibility, confessing our lack of faithfulness and ask God to lead us into His ways to make a profit.