How not to lead (3)

"Go and attack the Amalekites and completely destroy everything they have. Don't leave a thing; kill all the men, women, children, and babies; the cattle, sheep, camels, and donkeys. ...

But Saul and his men spared Agag's life and did not kill the best sheep and cattle, the best calves and lambs, or anything else that was good ...

Early the following morning he went off to find Saul. He heard that Saul had gone to the town of Carmel, where he had built a monument to himself, and then had gone on to Gilgal. Samuel went up to Saul, who greeted him, saying, “The LORD bless you, Samuel! I have obeyed the LORD's command.”

Samuel asked, “Why, then, do I hear cattle mooing and sheep bleating?” Saul answered, “My men took them from the Amalekites. They kept the best sheep and cattle to offer as a sacrifice to the LORD your God, and the rest we have destroyed completely.” ...

“I did obey the LORD,” Saul replied. “I went out as he told me to, brought back King Agag, and killed all the Amalekites. But my men did not kill the best sheep and cattle that they captured; instead, they brought them here to Gilgal to offer as a sacrifice to the LORD your God.”

Samuel said, “
Which does the LORD prefer:
obedience or offerings and sacrifices?
It is better to obey him
than to sacrifice the best sheep to him.
Rebellion against him
is as bad as witchcraft,
and arrogance is as sinful as idolatry.”

~ 1 Samuel 15.1-23 GNB

Saul spared the best sheep, cattle, calves, and lambs because he was greedy. And he thought he did well such that he built a monument to himself in Carmel. When Samuel confronted him, he claimed he obeyed the LORD, blamed his men, and said the best sheep and cattle were sacrifice to, which oddly he now said to Samuel, the LORD your God, not my God. Lies.

The LORD prefers obedience.