newsflash: I am entitled!
I can assure you my dad will be thrilled to read the title of this blog, considering I have come off this way most of my teenage years & he is very quick to notice it.
in the past when I would act entitled in any way, shape, or form I would never admit it. but to be honest, it was mostly for the purpose that I didn’t want to give my dad the satisfaction of being right. (we are both incredibly stubborn people if you didn’t know). however, being in the here & now, 2000 miles away from my dad, the Lord has shown me how I genuinely do struggle with entitlement.
at launch, right before I headed to Thailand, we were given a talk on entitlement. we were told not to expect things that we have had freely in the past. basically in preparation for the fact that the places we would be going might not have laundry services, wifi, hot showers, or even beds.
fast forward to now, this past Sunday at our house church, we watched a sermon titled “Entitlement vs Gratitude”. this sermon was from a church in Texas called The Porch & they were doing a series regarding vice vs. virtue. being on the race I have obviously wanted things but have also grown in this area since I am out of my comfort zone & out of the States. BUT, the time I have left on the race is now less than the time I have spent on it so I am confident the Lord is teaching me things that He wants me to bring back home. so with that belief I would like to share my notes with the hopes that 1) I can encourage myself when I struggle with this back at home & 2) encourage everyone reading this to overflow with gratitude.
the world (America especially) will try & convince you that we deserve a long list of things. oh, if she has that, I deserve to have it too. we are constantly trying to one up others that we are too busy to be grateful for what we actually have. in all honesty what we deserve is death. it says in the first part of Romans 6:23 “for the wages of sin is death”. we are so sinful that we shouldn’t even get to experience all that God has given us but that all changed when Jesus went to the cross. He died in the place of us, the worst possible death because of OUR sins. that man was perfect but He loved us so insanely much that He didn’t want us to suffer in the way we genuinely deserved. He didn’t promise this life would be perfect or that we would get all that we wanted, but He defeated death so that we could have eternal life with Him in Heaven!!!! the second half of verse 23 in Romans 6 says “but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”. soooo that sounds like a pretty good reason for us to be grateful if I do say so myself!
if you’re bitter with God it is most likely because you didn’t get something you thought you deserved to have. something you thought God should have given you. but really, He is so big & so good that He knows that we shouldn’t get everything we want. the Lord wants to be our Father, a person we have relationship with, not a genie!!! (not saying that you can never ask God for anything, just wanted to emphasize the fact that we don’t always get what we want & that is nothing against who God is.)
expectations expose entitlement & entitlement poisons relationships. whether that relationship be with the Lord of with people in your life— it definitely isn’t something you want near you. I can say this from personal experience considering my relationship with my dad has included many, many fights involving my entitlement issues. most of which occurred around my 16th birthday & I am sure you can guess why!
entitlement ends where gratitude begins!! this statement is something that I want myself & everyone who is reading this to hold onto. don’t put off thanking God for all He has done, is doing, & will continue to do. may the Lord break down all our walls of entitlement & rebuild them with stronger walls of gratitude on the solid foundation of Him & His goodness. He is eager to not only restore us, but to entirely rebuild us and/ or certain areas of our lives if He knows that is what we need. which is something I have become very familiar with recently & may possibly be something He wants you to let Him in on.
also a shoutout to all the people in my life that have helped me get to where I am today, I truly am SO grateful for you & any impact you have made– big or small!!! God blessed me with such incredible family & friends & has revealed Himself through all of them time & time again. so yes feeling extra extra grateful these days!!! && please pray with me that I can fight against entitlement every day! if you made it this far, I appreciate you & your willingness to read.
much love -olivia
