INFLEXIBILITY - A MANIFESTATION OF DISLOYALTY

INFLEXIBILITY - A MANIFESTATION OF DISLOYALTY 
Scripture: 1 Samuel 15:13-14
Topic: Inflexibility - A Manifestation of disloyalty

To manifest means “to demonstrate, to display, exhibit or to show forth” something. People show disloyalty in many ways. 

Why do we need to look at the manifestations of disloyalty? Because loyalty and disloyalty are things of the heart and things of the heart cannot easily be seen. Like many diseases, it is best detected by watching out for symptoms. 

Inflexibility

"And Samuel came to Saul: and said Saul unto him, Blessed be thou of the Lord: I HAVE PERFORMED the commandment of the Lord. And Samuel said, WHAT MEANETH THEN THIS BLEATING of the sheep in mine ears…?
1 Samuel 15:13,14

Inflexibility is a manifestation of disloyalty. An inflexible person is stubborn and defiant. 

Watch out for inflexible people in your set-up. Such people do not want to work overtime. They do not want to go beyond what is stipulated in their contract. They are not prepared to adapt to any new situation. They will always point out to you that work ends at 5.00 p.m.! They are unwilling to do anything extra for the organisation. Woe to the manager if he asks them to do something new! A sulking face is the trademark of such inflexible workers.

Inflexible church members are not prepared to stay on if the church service goes beyond the stipulated time. An inflexible and unyielding person is difficult to work with. He can become disloyal to you when things no longer suit him.

Stubborn people are also not prepared to take correction when they are confronted. You will see this in the life of Saul. When Samuel confronted him about the war with the Amalekites, he argued with Samuel. He was inflexible and unyielding in his discussion with Saul. He insisted that he had obeyed the Lord. The evidence of his disobedience was obvious and yet Saul argued with Samuel.

"And Samuel came to Saul: and said Saul unto him, Blessed be thou of the Lord: I HAVE PERFORMED the commandment of the Lord. And Samuel said, WHAT MEANETH THEN THIS BLEATING of the sheep in mine ears…"
1 Samuel 15:13,14

Some years ago, I had a worker who misused some church property. Initially, he denied everything! Because of this, I collected a lot of documentary evidence to prove that he was actually misappropriating the equipment and the church’s money.

When I had gathered all the documents, I called for a meeting. I presented all the documents that showed unambiguously that this gentleman had disobeyed instructions. Would you believe that in spite of the evidence in black and white, this man argued with us for three hours? I watched as an inflexible and unyielding attitude was flagrantly displayed.

I said to myself, “How stubborn can a person be?” Indeed, it was only a matter of time before this stubborn individual became openly rebellious. Truly, stubbornness is a manifestation of disloyalty!

Credits: Excerpt from
How To Detect Subtle Disloyalty 
Bishop Dag Heward-Mills

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