I've started nine things at once. Maybe the faithful thing is to stop building some of them.

"Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established." (Proverbs 16:3, ESV)

Right now I've got roughly nine things running at once: a full-time job, an AI consulting company with my business partner Brendan, a web and software shop, an accessibility SaaS product, a personal app suite, a build-in-public platform, a music and devotional brand, a full rebuild of my own portfolio, and this blog. AI is a big part of why that number is even possible. A few years ago, starting a tenth idea would have meant finding hours I didn't have. Now it mostly means opening a new tab.

That should worry me a little more than it usually does.

Starting has gotten too easy

I've built and sold two companies before, so I know I can finish things and let them go well. But finishing has never been the fun part for me. Starting is the fun part. A blank project, a fresh idea, the first hour of momentum, that's where I come alive. AI has made that first hour available on demand, for almost any idea, at almost any time.

Jesus told a short, blunt parable about this:

"For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him." (Luke 14:28–29, ESV)

That verse isn't about towers. It's about me opening a new project at 3 AM because I can, without asking whether I actually have the capacity, the season, or the calling to finish it.

The question I've started asking before I start something new

Grounding Scripture: "For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?" (Luke 14:28, ESV)

Before building, count the cost. Not can I start this. Can I complete it, and should I, given everything else I'm already carrying?

For a long time my honest answer to "why are you starting this" was some version of "because I can, and it's exciting." AI made that answer easier to justify, because the cost of starting dropped so low it barely felt like a decision anymore. But a low cost of starting doesn't mean a low cost of carrying. Nine ventures still means nine things pulling on the same limited attention, the same limited hours before Elizabeth and the boys wake up, the same one conscience that has to answer for all of it.

Not every unfinished thing is a failure

I want to be careful here, because I don't think every project that gets paused or shelved is a spiritual failure. Some ideas are meant to be tested quickly and let go. AI is genuinely good for that kind of fast, cheap exploration. The problem isn't starting things. The problem is never asking which ones deserve to keep living once I can see what they actually cost.

Ecclesiastes puts a boundary around all of this that I need to hear:

"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven... a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted." (Ecclesiastes 3:1–2, ESV)

Plucking up isn't the opposite of faithfulness. Sometimes it is faithfulness.

A practical prune, not just a practical start

Before I let myself start a tenth thing, I'm trying to ask:

Which of the nine is actually finished and just needs to be maintained, not grown?

Which one have I kept alive out of pride, because ending it would feel like admitting something?

Which one is quietly stealing hours from Elizabeth, William, Wes, or Wyatt without me clocking it as a cost?

If I can't answer those honestly, I don't think I've earned the right to open a new tab yet.

Frequently asked questions

Is it wrong for Christians to run multiple businesses at once?

Not inherently. Scripture doesn't set a number on how many responsibilities a person can carry. The concern is whether each one is carried faithfully and whether starting new ones has become a way of avoiding the harder work of finishing or ending existing ones.

How do I know when to stop starting new projects?

A useful test is whether you can honestly explain what an existing project costs you in time, attention, and relationships, and whether you're willing to pay that same cost for the new one without taking it from something else.

What does the Bible say about finishing what you start?

Luke 14:28–30 directly addresses counting the cost before building, warning that starting without the capacity to finish invites public embarrassment and wasted effort. Ecclesiastes 3 adds that there is a right time to end something, not only to begin it.

Start here: the free F.A.I.T.H. AI Stewardship Audit is twenty questions about your week, not about technology. About five minutes, no cost, and your answers stay on your device.

I'm Dave. I have built and sold two companies and currently run about nine ventures at once, using AI to move fast while trying to stay honest about which ones deserve to keep going.