Bible Story: 1 Samuel 24 – David spares Saul
Bottom Line: You respect God when you respect the people He’s put in charge.
Memory Verse: “Show proper respect to everyone.” 1 Peter 2:17a, NIV
Life App: Respect—showing others they are important by what you say and do.
Basic Truth: I can trust God no matter what.
We wrapped up our month talking about respect this week. We’ve talked about respecting God, having respect for all people, regardless of their situations, race, economic status and popularity. Last week we talked about the importance of respecting our parents.
Throughout all this month there has been one common thread tying it all together, respect for God. It starts and ends there.
Our final week we focused on showing proper respect to the leaders that God has placed in charge of our lives. The need to focus on respect for our leaders is just as important as any of the others we have learned, we respect our leaders because God has put them in charge. If we don’t respect them, we aren’t respecting God’s choice for this time of our lives.
See, if we are to respect God, which is the ultimate goal, than we need to be able to respect the things that God has done (create people) and is doing (creating families and establishing leadership).
We don’t always agree 100% with what God does, because we don’t always 100% understand what God does. But we still need to show respect for those God has placed in authority in our lives. Pastors, teachers, government leaders, parents, and all of the other people God has place in our lives. They are worthy of respect because God has put them there, and by respecting them, we are showing our respect to God.
Here are a few ways we can learn to respect our leaders.
- Pray for them. Don’t pray they see your point of view, pray that God would guide them, pray that God would keep them healthy, bless their families. Pray for the person, not the position.
- Don’t talk bad about them. So you don’t like them or agree with them. If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all. This is also a good time to pray… for our own attitudes.
- Remember who is really in charge. David had a chance to kill Saul, but choose not to. Instead David relied on God’s plan to make him king, and respected the person God put in charge. David was able to do this because he recognized that ultimately, God is in charge.
Thanks for reading! There is downloadable printout for this weeks lesson review you can share with your child. I am looking forward to our new series in September; Lunchroom, which will be focusing on friendship. See you soon!
Pastor Paul
Resonant Love 