Every good and perfect gift is from above. (James 1:17)
A sense of entitlement has enslaved our contemporary culture and crippled it from being able to rise above the inevitable waves of challenge that crash against every life. Entitlement is metastasizing like stage four cancer, both in the unbelieving world and within the church.
It never ceases to amaze me how many younger adults I speak to who feel entitled to immediately enjoy the same standard of living that it took their parents decades to attain. This insidious spirit of entitlement has infected the church and wreaked havoc in our spiritual lives. When we don’t receive what we believe we have a right to expect, all too often we look resentfully at God as the One who withheld it from us.
I hope you will forgive me for being blunt. God has promised to give to us everything we need to live the life He has called us to live (2 Corinthians 9:8). We have been given every spiritual blessing in Christ (Ephesians 1:3), and God has promised to meet our every need along the way (Philippians 4:19). But we immediately veer off into the muddy ditch of entitlement when we believe that we are entitled to more than God has promised. God never promised to meet our every want. Often what we want is diametrically opposed to what God wants for us, and for good reason. It is not His best for us. But when we feel entitled to whatever that want may be, we may become bitter and begin to shrink back from all God is calling us to in our ministry of service to Him.
We must remember that God owes us nothing, but He has promised us everything in Jesus. The Christian life is to be marked by caring contribution, not covetous consumerism. It is only when we remember this truth that we will begin to break the chains of enslavement to entitlement. We must trust in God’s provision for us and receive with thanksgiving whatever He chooses to give to us.
Entitlement places self on the throne of life rather than the Savior. But by keeping an attitude of gratitude in all circumstances, we keep Jesus enthroned in our lives, and He in turn will dethrone every sense of entitlement.
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 