\u201cEntitled American\u201d seems a bit redundant. I know that might not make some people too happy to hear, but the fact remains that the vast majority of Americans have entitlement issues. Of course, we\u2019re not the only nation or people that deal with this issue by any stretch of the imagination. But let\u2019s take a real quick history lesson back to the beginning of our union and remember that we emancipated ourselves from England because we felt we deserved better representation and more rights than we were getting. This isn\u2019t a bad thing, but it has set quite a precedent for the way we as a people interact even today.<\/p>\n
I recently read a great book called \u201cOutliers\u201d by Malcolm Gladwell where at one point he talks about the different cultures around the world and how they deal with power. As many of us are aware, we talk to our bosses and talk about our presidents and authority figures much differently than someone would in, say, Japan or Cuba. The point is we feel we have the right to say such things. We deserve it. But I think that sometimes the thought of what we deserve can get us into some serious trouble. In fact, I would argue that the devil has been using the \u201cyou deserve this\u201d trap for centuries to ensnare people.<\/p>\n
Just take a look:<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s just a small part of the Old Testament! We have always, throughout the course of history from the very beginning, had this issue with what we deserve. And you and I deal with it even now as we go through life. I\u2019m right, aren\u2019t I?<\/p>\n
And the list could go on and on and on and on. We are fully convinced that we deserve so many things. We have rights that need to be met. If we have desires then we must be allowed to do whatever it takes to meet them. That\u2019s just fair. Or maybe, just maybe, having our every whim and desire met instantly in whatever way we see fit is a perfect definition for bondage and captivity.<\/p>\n
The devil convinces us that we deserve something, something that may not even be bad in itself. But then we go after it outside of God\u2019s timing or outside of His perfect will for our lives and what we \u201cdeserved\u201d ends up being our very punishment. You deserved to fool around with that guy who made you feel so special, but did you deserve to feel so empty then when he later decided he wasn\u2019t interested anymore? You deserved to say what you felt in the moment of anger, but did you deserve to lose that friendship over something you later realized wasn\u2019t that big of a deal?<\/p>\n
So be careful of what you think you deserve, because rights can far too easily turn into chains.<\/p>\n
And you deserve so much more than that!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"