4 Daniel-Like Qualities God Looks for In Us

In Daniel chapter 1, we learn that 15-year-old Daniel and three of his friends are taken captive and hired by the king to learn the Babylonian language, literature, and culture over the next three years. They’re given new names, new jobs, new clothes, and even a new diet patterned after King Nebuchadnezzar’s diet.

But Daniel chapter 1, verse 8 says…

Daniel determined that he would not defile himself with the king’s food or with the wine he drank…

Now, the word defile means to pollute, to contaminate, to corrupt, or to make something impure. It’s tossing your garbage out the car window. It’s dumping harmful chemicals, toxic waste, or raw sewage into the river. It’s running a bubble bath for your wife, and then just before she gets in, tossing a can of garbage into her bath water. Daniel says, “I’m not gonna contaminate myself with this Babylonian food. It’s unhealthy, and it’s not food God would want us to eat.”

So, what I want to do here is discover four qualities Daniel exhibited in this situation – four qualities that God looks for even in our own lives.

The first quality Daniel displays in this situation is…

1. INTEGRITY: He never forgot who he was

Daniel essentially was saying, “You can change my address. You can change my clothing. You can change my name. But you’re not gonna change my heart. I’m not gonna allow you to pollute my life with your pagan values.” Interestingly, we followers of Jesus are challenged with the same thing in the New Testament. Romans 12:2 says…

Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

We’ve got two choices in life: We can be conformed, or we can be transformed. We can be conformed to the world so that we look and act like everyone else on earth, or we can be transformed by God. I don’t know if you caught this or not, but when we’re transformed by God, then we’ll know the will of God – the perfect will of God. Maybe you’ve said, “I don’t know what God wants me to do with my life. I don’t know what God’s will is for me.” Do you really want to know what God’s will is for your life? Stop trying to blend in with the world. Stop trying to be like everyone else. Go against the flow and be the unique Jesus-follower God has called you to be, and allow God to transform you through reading the Bible, showing up for worship every week, and through constant communication – or prayer – with God. As long as you’re worrying about conforming, you’re never gonna be able to be transformed, which means you’re never gonna know God’s perfect will.

Integrity is remembering who you are and whose you are. And that’s exactly what Daniel did throughout his entire life.

Here’s the second quality Daniel displayed…

2. DISCIPLINE: He controlled his ego and appetite

Again, verse 8 says…

Daniel determined that he would not defile himself with the king’s food or with the wine he drank…

Now, think about this. What 15-year-old boy living away from home with no parental supervision passes on stuffing his face with the king’s gourmet food? I would imagine this is some of the best food he’s ever seen in his life. Do you think you could’ve turned that down? At 15-years-old Daniel says, “I’ll serve the king, but I’m not gonna eat his food. Just because I can do something doesn’t mean I should do something.” What amazing maturity for a 15-year-old boy! There are adults who’ve never learned that lesson.

Romans 7:13 says…

And do not offer any parts of [your body] to sin as weapons for unrighteousness. But as those who are alive from the dead, offer yourselves to God, and all the parts of yourselves to God as weapons for righteousness.

As a teenager, Daniel made the decision to be used by God, not by the world; to be used by God, not by culture; to be transformed by God, not to be conformed to the world. He had integrity, and he had discipline. Number 3, he had…

3. COURAGE: He was willing to stand alone

Think about how brave it was for Daniel to stand up to the king and tell him, “I’m not gonna eat your food.” The king would’ve been insulted. The king could’ve said, “I’m sorry, who’s giving the orders around here – you or me?” This is very courageous of Daniel. And remember, Daniel’s not the only Jewish boy in the program. He’s got three friends who are gonna go along with Daniel’s diet, but there are others in the program who are gonna go along with the king’s diet. Everyone else probably thought, “Well, everyone else is doing it. We might as well, too.” But Daniel says, “I don’t care if the whole world is doing it. It’s not right, and I’m not gonna do it.” He stands with courage, and he’s willing to say the majority is wrong. What’s right is right, and it will always be right. It doesn’t matter how many people say something wrong is right; it doesn’t make it right. Only God decides what’s the truth. Only God decides what’s right and what’s wrong. It’s not up to us or the majority.

Exodus 23:2 says…

“You must not follow a crowd in wrongdoing…”

As Jesus followers, we’ve got to take a stand and speak up for what we know is right. The Apostle Paul encourages us in 1 Corinthians 16 by saying…

Be alert, stand firm in the faith, be courageous, be strong.

Now more than ever, we need Christian men and women to be courageous and strong in the faith to take a stand in a culture that’s turning wrong into right.

The last quality we see in Daniel from this passage is…

4. HUMILITY: He was tactful with authority

I want you to notice something here. Daniel disagrees with what the authorities are asking him to do. But he doesn’t rebel. He doesn’t demand his rights. He doesn’t gather a mob and storm the doors of the capital building. Instead, he shows respect for an ungodly king and uses tact to get what he knows is right.

Let’s read the rest of what happens here from Daniel chapter 1, starting in verse 8…

Daniel determined that he would not defile himself with the king’s food or with the wine he drank. So he asked permission from the chief eunuch not to defile himself. God had granted Daniel kindness and compassion from the chief eunuch, yet he said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who assigned your food and drink. What if he sees your faces looking thinner than the other young men your age? You would endanger my life with the king.”

So Daniel said to the guard whom the chief eunuch had assigned to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, “Please test your servants for ten days. Let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then examine our appearance and the appearance of the young men who are eating the king’s food, and deal with your servants based on what you see.” He agreed with them about this and tested them for ten days. At the end of ten days they looked better and healthier than all the young men who were eating the king’s food. So the guard continued to remove their food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables. At the end of the time that the king had said to present them, the chief eunuch presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. The king interviewed them, and among all of them, no one was found equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. So they began to attend the king.

Daniel maintains his integrity and refuses to compromise his convictions, and he still gets promoted in a pagan, ungodly, secular, anti-God culture. He’s not just surviving; he’s thriving. And he’s only 18 years old now!

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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.