Wednesday's Word..."BUT I DESERVE IT!!!" - 2/6/13

Entitlement.

My daughter is three and I already see it in her. The other morning I was fixing the kids' breakfast and she said that she wanted chocolate milk. I told her that I would get it for her in a moment, I was busy fixing everything else. She protested and replied "I said...I WANT CHOCOLATE MILK!" Her implication was clear. She wanted chocolate milk and she wanted it now. She felt, in her three year old mind, that because she spoke it, so it should be. I have little toleration for that in our children. 

But I do it too. I want this or that and when our budget doesn't allow for it, I have little self-pity time. We all do it. 

How do we combat it in our own lives?

James 4:1-3 says

1What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. 3When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

What is he saying? I strongly desire something; could be material or otherwise. If I can't have it I get mad (I probably won't murder you, but I may very well get quite upset with you) and arguments arise between my wife and I. 

This all happens because we don't ask God. And if we do, we're asking with the wrong motives. James makes it quite clear. How do we stop it?

James continues in verses 7-10:

7Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.9Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

It starts with submitting everything to God. Submitting my desires, wants, and my entire life to God. Placing Him on the throne of my heart. It continues with finding contentment in Him. When I am fully satisfied in God, only then can I fully glorify Him with my life. 

Becoming Rooted, 
Rodney

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Wondering how how deal with this in the lives of your own children as well? Orange Parents had an article about this a few months ago.  They suggest:

1. Be clear on wants and needs
2. Be clear about what you will never pay them for

They suggest three other big ideas on dealing with entitlement. Check them out here.