The Responsibility of Favor
fa⋅vor [fey-ver]
–noun
- friendly or well-disposed regard; goodwill.
- the state of being approved or held in regard.
When you’ve earned the respect of someone, they might do you a favor.
When the Lord gives you favor with another person, it is anointed, not earned.
See the difference?
It’s been pointed out to me that I have had extreme favor with a number of people over the last year. I’ve not spent the time and energy to try and earn the respect or goodwill of these people; God has simply given me favor with them. Naturally, I’ve enjoyed this favor as it’s resulted in some very key relationships with people that are in positions to mentor me. Having favor is a tremendous blessing, but I was reminded in a conversation this morning to honor that favor and not take it for granted.
Proverbs 3:3-4 (New Living Translation)
3 Never let loyalty and kindness leave you!
Tie them around your neck as a reminder.
Write them deep within your heart.
4 Then you will find favor with both God and people,
and you will earn a good reputation.
In my business, I’ve had the chance to get to know a great number of people at churches, ministries and businesses. One particular group of people I’ve met and grown to know are the many people who work for manufacturers of the products and services that my church clients utilize. I’ve earned the respect of these men and women by being fair and engaging in a conversation that helps me stay on top of the new tools as well as helping them understand the huge and multi-faceted church market. Again this morning I was reminded of one person in particular that I have had an inordinate amount of favor with for over a decade. This man has let me get the inside scoop on his company’s technologies well before they go public with these new solutions. In turn, my clients get the heads-up on new technology coming down the pipe in the form of “If you’re going to buy ‘x’, you might want to wait until later this year for something that’s coming but I can’t tell you about – yet.”
The favor I have with people benefits my church friends because I help them to make better long-term decisions and, usually, act as better stewards of their resources, or help make a connection that they otherwise might not have made. And that’s when it dawned on me: I have a responsibility of favor in my life.
If I singularly enjoy the favor, it only benefits me. I get the insight. I get the access. I get the relationships.
But if I share the outflow of that favor, I’m giving back and honoring the Lord through the privilege of having favor. It’s a tangible recognition of what God does on my behalf.
Who do you have unmerited favor with in your life? More importantly, how can you bless others through that favor? Share your stories below and let’s tangibly demonstrate our gratitude to our King!
One Response to “The Responsibility of Favor”
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I'm Anthony Coppedge, a follower of Jesus, a husband to my uber-bride and father to four great kids. I help ministries leverage technology and communicate with a digitally-infused culture. I'm passionate about this, so that makes me a Technology & Communications Evangelist. I attend and volunteer at Gateway Church in Southlake, TX and love it!
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I really, really appreciate this post. Favor is this weird, don't-know-why-I-got-it, thing. It comes from the gracious hand of God. But your point of acknowledging it, then realizing that we have the responsibility of giving it away…. that's something that can easily be missed – at least by me. So thanks for taking something that's just laying dormant, and helping me dreams ways of bringing it to new life. Really good stuff.