Entitlement – August 27, 2024

These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us.
1 Corinthians 10:11

Entitlement

A website called verywellmind.com has published an article that may help you determine whether someone you know has a toxic sense of entitlement. According to the article, symptoms may include the following: High demands (regardless of what they have, they presume they deserve more); Melodrama (a strong reaction when things don’t go their way); Lack of gratitude (expressing appreciation for what they have simply does not occur to them); Victim mentality (they feel that something bad is always happening to them).

But here’s the sobering side of this article. When I apply these symptoms to my attitude toward God, I wince. My old sinful self can often ooze with a sense of entitlement. It’s easy for me to presume that I deserve more. It’s easy for me to harbor strong resentment when things don’t go my way. It’s easy for me not to consider expressing appreciation for what I already have. And oh, it is so easy for me to play the victim—blaming people, circumstances, and even God when my life is not rolling along as I insist it should.

In the Old Testament, God records how he cared for his people as they traveled through a barren wilderness. He gave them enough to eat and drink. He faithfully fulfilled their needs. And yet, their sinful sense of entitlement led them to resentment and rebellion towards God—the very one who could give them life.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 10, the apostle Paul tells us that God recorded these events with us in mind. Through these tragic accounts of calloused entitlement, the Lord wishes to give a warning to you and me—a warning that radiates with love. In love, he calls upon me to consider all that I possess from a lavish, generous God. In love, he calls upon me to identify the sinful sense of entitlement when it sprouts in my own heart. In love, he calls me to repentance and invites me to be refreshed in the forgiveness Jesus has purchased for me.

Prayer:
Lord, I come to you in repentance for my sense of entitlement. Wash me clean. Fill me with thankfulness all over again. Amen.