As the weekend approaches, I am reminded that we serve an loving God. He is so gracious to us and gives us what we don't deserve. We deserve death but He gives us life. We deserve to walk through life alone for what we did to Him but He wants to walk with us in everything we do. He forgives when we mess up, loves us enough to run after us when we stray away and longs to guide us in our journey towards His Kingdom.
Does this sound familiar? .
"I ____________ so I deserve__________".(FILL IN YOUR SITUATION.)
"I WORK HARD so I deserve TO HAVE A COMFORTABLE LIFE"
You are privaledged to have a job that God has placed you in to shine a light for Him.
You get a paycheck, from the job God placed you in, to first of all give back to Him, then to use as you feel necessary. Also God never promised life would be easy. He did promise not to give you anything you can't handle and He is always there beside you!!!
Romans 8:28 And we know that in ALL THINGS God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
"I GIVE MORE IN THIS RELATIONSHIP so I deserve MORE ATTENTION"
A relationship isn't about who gives what, it's about caring enough about the other person to give unconditionally. There is no rating system in a relationship. It's 100% to 100%. I hear a lot of guys that say "Man I give and give and my wife doesn't respect anything I do. I ask them "are you just doing it to get something you want?" Women can see that. If you are genuine in what you do, a woman will recognize it and respond accordingly. They are very wise with that. I have always tried to have a mindset of "never do anything to get something in return" You always set yourself up for failure.
Our fill in the blank should be "I SINNED so I deserve DEATH"
Luckily we serve a God who took our place on that one.
If we could ALL get the "I deserve" mentality out of our heads, this world would be drastically changed. We thing we deserve a lot of things in our lives so we push some people aside and pass by situations to get what we think we deserve when God could have placed them or that situation in your life for Him to work through you.
We don't deserve anything
We get focused to much on earthly possessions that rank us in our status as a person. Why not focus on a God that died for our sins so we wouldn't have to face that punishment. With the access to a Heavenly Father, what can out rank that!
I challenge you to think of yourself as Privaledged not Deserving.
Grace and Peace
Ben
Hi, Ben! :) I just happened to stumble on this post via facebook and I was blessed to read it. You make an argument that too many 21st century Americans do not want to hear. Entitlement is a huge problem in our relationships, work, and sadly, our churches. The flip side is that we are content with where we're at when God so much desires to give us more. My pastor always says it's being "content with mud puddles when we could have the ocean". If we would just stop thinking that we have it all together and that what we do has any merit and see that our Creator is the source!
ReplyDeleteHave a blessed weekend! :)
Natalie