God told Saul to destroy everything associated with the Amalekites. Saul disobeyed God and kept the best of the Amalekites’ animals. Saul claimed he was going to use the animals to sacrifice to the Lord.

1 Samuel 15:22 But Samuel replied: “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.

Some of us sacrifice out of our flesh instead of obeying God. For instance, a lot of us understand the principle of giving. The more we give, the more we’ll receive. God instructs us to give a $25 offering at church. We want a bigger harvest therefore, we give $100. We feel like our sacrifice of giving an additional $75 will impress God or compel God to bless us, but God desires our obedience above sacrifice. God may have had other intentions for that $75.

We’ll sacrifice our time by serving in multiple areas at the church, but we know God instructed us to spend more time with our families.

Our sacrifices may seem honorable and noble, but our obedience will go further than sacrificing from our flesh.