April 12. One Secret To Keep And One To Share.

Do you have trade secrets? Some businesses have an unfair competitive advantage, and they might call it a secret. These advantages are normally short lived, but many businesses strive to obtain them, to develop them and they can wind up shaping industries because of them.

What does your team do to develop an unfair competitive advantage? If you are not working on that advantage, then you are closer to being a commodity than you might think. Few companies want their business products to become commoditized because then the product is about nothing more than price.

Who can deliver the product at the lowest price can wear you out quickly! But keep in mind that a secret which is based on harm is what I would call an illegal secret. An example would be stealing someone’s idea or property. You have damaged or hurt another on purpose to get an advantage.

That is not ethical. We define an unfair competitive advantage as a positive effect of your teams’ synergies and intellectual capacity. It is not a result of harming others. Where can your team work on having an unfair competitive advantage? You might already have one and just not be using it effectively.

I hope that you do have one and that your perspective has changed. What can you do in the next seven days to identify any unfair competitive advantage you might have?

In Luke 16:1-18, there is a great parable about serving two masters. Will we, as brothers and sisters in Christ, expect to develop our relationship with Christ first or will it be anything else? Will we seek an unfair competitive advantage which is Christ?

When our secret advantage is Christ, we can grow our relationship without keeping it a secret. If we are growing anything else, it might be that there are activities involved that do not honor Christ. We want to move away from those secrets or activities. Those other secrets involve the world and our sin.

They might even carry with them guilt and shame. Let us leave those others behind to only serving one master. Let that advantage be the guide to direct the rest of our worldly work. What is one area that you can change your leadership that will place Christ as Master?

The week is before us and we can shape a secret to share with those that we encounter. How can you do that this week?

Let us pray, Heavenly Father, you know all and see all. You will be waiting for us at your heavenly gates and want nothing more than to share your love forever with us. Let us honor you today with our thoughts, words, and actions. May we love better, speak kindlier, and be attentive to you first.

You provide us with true comfort. May we rest in the palm of your hand, especially as we cast aside anything that we held as more important than you. Send your Holy Spirit to help move us forward. You are our unfair competitive advantage in dealing with the world. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen,