Is Right Ever Wrong or Wrong Ever Right?

What is it in life that drives you? What determines how you do a job or even react in situations? King Saul confesses in  1 Samuel 15:13, "I have sinned. I have violated the Lord's command and your instructions. I was afraid of the people and so I gave in to them." There it is. So many times we act and react to gain the approval of others rather than to act in accordance to what we know to be right. This passage brings out two basic principles about human nature. How we act and react to situations, and the reason behind our decision.

First of all, think about the things you do. I mean every morning. Do you jump out of bed and just throw on your clothes and go out the door without spending some time in front of the mirror? Thank goodness we don't. If someone calls and says, "Can I drop in a few minutes and the house looks somewhat like a cyclone has been through, do you jump up and tidy up and kick the shoes under the sofa, or do you just let them come in and make a place for themselves and say, "Come on in and clean you out a chair, we live in our house?" Another example, if company is coming, my husband will jump on the lawnmower and try to get the lawn cut. Yeah, that is his thing, even if his toilet has spots all under the seat and newspapers all around his chair, the grass has to be cut. You know what I mean. You're getting the point.

Right off I would say that I have matured in my own thinking and ability to think and do for myself without needing the approval of others. Yeah right, my actions and behavior these past weeks would prove me a liar because I have been frantically working to pull off a project that those involved would say, "Well done, you've done it again." Point proved, approval of others has everything to do with everything.

Well, these things are all right in themselves. However there are times that we choose to do things that are wrong. In other words we are disobedient to what we know is right. Why would we choose wrong over right? Pastor Shane used an example Sunday, saying, "It is always right to do what is right. It is never right to do wrong. Wrong is never right and right is never wrong." That seems simple doesn't it? King Saul knew what to do. God had told him exactly what to do. Being disobedient to God caused him his relationship with God and the confidence of his people.  

Saul made his decision based on what others would think.  Others approval can be so important in our lives that we compromise what we know is right? When was the last time you did or did not do something you knew was right? We do not want to admit that do we. I don't, but just yesterday I was talking to an individual and they said something that within myself I knew was not exactly right. Because of my friendship and their "standing," I decided to let it pass. Why did I do that? I like Saul, was afraid of what the person would think if I spoke up.

God spoke through the Priest Samuel and said, "Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifice as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord. To obey is better than sacrifice." God help me to always take a stand for what is right. 

How do you with right and wrong choices when it is coupled with approval from someone you know?