Recommended Citation: Lawal, J. O. (2025, April 16). Behave yourself wisely (Vol. 7, No. 48). Youth for Jesus.
“So David went out wherever Saul sent him, and behaved 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.” (1Sam 18:5NKJV)
What are we told here about David? It is that he behaved himself wisely in handling all the things King Saul sent him to do. In other words, he conducted himself in such a way that even though he was very young at the time, he had the respect of Saul, the army officers and also the troops. So, when he was given a high rank in the army, everybody loved it. Nobody thought that he was overrated. Instead, they saw it as something he deserved.
In like manner, we too must learn to behave ourselves wisely wherever we find ourselves. We must learn to take advantage of the wisdom of God in us to win the respect of those around us, whether we are living together, working together or studying together. And we can do this by showing seriousness in all that we do and say, by giving appropriate honour to everyone, by staying out of other people’s business and by making ourselves helpful and useful to others whenever they need us. And if this is the way we are functioning, people will be glad to see us elevated and honoured in life.
Paul says something along these lines to Timothy. He says, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.” (1Tim 4:12NIV) What does this apostle mean by this? First, let us look at what he does not mean. He does not mean that Timothy should go around talking rudely to anyone that tries to disrespect him because he is young. Doing that would be very silly and arrogant of him. In fact, doing that would make people look down on him all the more.
What, then, does Paul mean? Well, he means that Timothy should behave himself so wisely that nobody would use his being young as an excuse for disrespecting him. That, of course, is why he goes on to tell him to be an example to other believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. And as he does this, everyone would give him the respect that he deserves as a man of God.
Now we too should pay attention to how we behave where we live, study or work. People won’t give us adequate and appropriate respect simply because we bear some titles or because we are rich or because we are highly educated. Rather, they will do so because we know how to behave ourselves wisely. And if we should fail to learn to behave ourselves wisely, we may lose more than the respect and honour of others. We may also lose those things that are giving us pride in life.
Remember Hagar, Sarah’s maidservant. She was given an unspeakable privilege of sharing her mistress’ husband, even though it was something contrary to the purpose of God for those involved. And if she had behaved herself wisely in that situation, she would have enjoyed her mistress, Sarah, for the rest of her life. But she did not behave herself wisely but foolishly. When she got pregnant, she began to despise her Sarah, thinking that she had become the apple of Abraham’s eye. (Cf. Gen 16)
But soon enough, she saw that she was wrong. She saw that she could never take Sarah’s place in Abraham’s heart, even though she was carrying the man’s pregnancy. But she already lost whatever love and respect Sarah and others had for her in that home. And though she later humbled herself, all the remaining years she spent there were years of misery and pains.
You can, then, see that we may never win certain people’s respect or love back once we lose it. So, in all your dealings with people, always conduct yourself in such a way that you will continually earn their respect. And may God daily strength you to do so. Amen.
Copyright © 2025, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministryng.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 08146472876)