1Samuel 18:5
And David went out whithersoever Saul sent him, and behaved himself wisely: and Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul’s servants.
One of the biggest reasons why many people do not find favor with men is simply because they lack wisdom.
Wisdom and favour work hand in hand. Wise people are generally loved and favoured over people who demonstrate foolishness. Luke 2:52 says And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.
Our Lord Jesus himself enjoyed favour with God and man as He increased in wisdom and stature.
The wisdom of God makes your life appealing whereas foolishness in your actions makes people resent you. David went out withersoever King Saul sent him. He obeyed Saul even though he knew Saul was no longer God’s favourite. David behaved himself wisely and it caused Saul to promote him and made him the leader over the army.
One of the core elements of wisdom is the ability to recognise and obey those who God has set as leaders. A wise person will always honour whoever is above him.
David honoured Saul and the first evidence of honour is obeying the directives of your leader.
Most people today, unlike David, act in dishonor unknowingly by arguing with their leaders and trying to prove to their leader that they know better than them, instead of doing whatsoever their leader directs them to do.
A wise man will honor and obey those in authority over them regardless of their weaknesses.
David knew about King Saul’s weaknesses but you will never hear him talking about them whether publicly or privately. Many unwise Christians would spend time gossiping and criticizing their pastors or leaders simply because they know about their weaknesses.*
David rather was blind to Saul’s weaknesses and never tried to become Saul’s “life coach”, but he went out withersoever Saul sent him.
I encourage you never to take part with people who specialise in criticizing their leaders especially spiritual leaders, because you are not the one who appointed them. The God who appointed them, if he feels that they are no longer relevant to His programme, knows how to deal with them.
Our responsibility to our leaders is to pray for them and not to expose them or talk about their weaknesses. David was accepted in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul’s servants. He enjoyed favour before the whole army and they accepted him as commander because they all saw that David was extremely loyal to King Saul, doing everything that Saul commanded him to do. If you examine yourself, can you say you are a loyal person or are you the selfish type who only thinks about seizing opportunities to pursue your own agenda?
A disloyal person always seizes opportunities of an organisational weakness or a weakness in his or her leaders’ life to score a point. A loyal person is faithful and committed and rises to defend and protect his leaders. If you are this way, you will always find favor.
This can be counted to you for righteousness. Romans 5:17 says For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.
It takes a man with the righteousness consciousness to do this. And once done, it activates the favour of God. You cannot enjoy God’s favour if you do not know that you have been accepted into the beloved and that you are now in right standing with God.
God has given us righteousness as a gift. It is important to receive this gift of righteousness and walk in a consciousness of the fact you are righteous in order for you to enjoy God’s favours.
The blood of Jesus has purged away all our sins and His Holy Spirit has recreated our Spirits in righteousness and true Holiness. We were made righteous when our Spirits were regenerated by the Holy Spirit.
We received the nature of righteousness because God recreated us rightly. As new creations, we can only receive what our creator has created into us as a gift.
A dog doesn’t have to work to merit the ability to bark like a dog. The ability to bark is built into the dog by God who created it. Similarly, we were made new creations and given righteousness as a gift.
To be righteous means that now God loves us. It means that now you are God’s favourite.
To be righteous means that now we are in God’s good books. Being in God’s good books is what makes us candidates for His favour. As a result of righteousness God has chosen to dwell in us and never to leave us nor forsake us.
Think about it, God has come to dwell in you by giving you His Holy Spirit because you are righteous. He is with you to favour your life. It is important to believe that you are God’s favourite. This knowledge will cause you to always be confident and never be afraid.
Any Christian who is always afraid and who always talks about fear cannot enjoy God’s favours because the presence of fear in your life is the evidence that you have not received the gift of righteousness even though God has given it to you freely.
Someone may say, but Pastor I have received the gift of righteousness but I still sometimes walk in fear. To receive the gift of righteousness means to have a deep seated conviction that God loves you.
1John 4:18 says
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. There is no fear in love. If you have a deep seated conviction that God loves, that knowledge will free you from fear.
If you are always afraid, it is because you have not meditated enough upon the fact that God loves you.
You cannot be afraid if you are conscious of God’s love. You cannot enjoy God’s favours either if you are always afraid. Favour is God working with you to bring you into a place of influence. Favour is God using whatever the devil planned for evil to work out something good.
God only works in an environment of faith and faith in God’s love for you will trigger so much confidence that favour will begin to manifest.
Last Line: Have you ever wondered what it means to give your life to Christ and be saved? Are you born again? God sent Jesus to die for all your sins so that you will not have to be punished for the same. To be saved means to simply accept Christ Jesus as your substitutionary sacrifice for your sins and to make him lord over your life. Surrender your life to Christ today by asking Jesus to forgive you your sins; ask Him to come into your life and to make you a new person. If you are facing challenges and require counseling/prayers do not hesitate to contact me. I will be willing to assist as much as I can.