When I am negotiating a compromise, how do I know if I’m about to make a bad agreement? - Compromise - TouchPoints

1 Samuel 8:4-7Finally, all the elders of Israel met at Ramah to discuss the matter with Samuel. “Look,” they told him, “you are now old, and your sons are not like you. Give us a king to judge us like all the other nations have.” Samuel was displeased with their request and went to the Lord for guidance. “Do everything they say to you,” the Lord replied, “for they are rejecting me, not you. They don’t want me to be their king any longer.”

The people were willing to move further away from God and lose personal freedoms to be similar to other nations and win military might. Compromise is a bad deal when you trade eternal loyalties for temporary ones.

Daniel 1:8Daniel was determined not to defile himself by eating the food and wine given to them by the king. He asked the chief of staff for permission not to eat these unacceptable foods.

Daniel was able to negotiate an agreement to avoid compromising his convictions—both the king and Daniel got what they wanted. Whenever you negotiate, never give up your Christian convictions.

2 Kings 15:3-4[Uzziah] did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight, just as his father, Amaziah, had done. But he did not destroy the pagan shrines, and the people still offered sacrifices and burned incense there.

Bad compromise doesn’t always involve a trade; sometimes it is failing to take the action that you and God know is right. Doing nothing when you know God wants you to do something is a compromise of your convictions and commitments.