The opposite of entitlement is humility.
There’s a lot that has been said lately about entitlement. Our kids feel like they are entitled to everything from the newest electronics to straight A’s without having to do anything to earn them. A large portion of our population has decided that they shouldn’t have to do anything to earn a paycheck. They feel like the government should just give them one.
And before we get to feeling too self-righteous and looking down on those we feel have their hand out, I have to ask how Christians are doing with our own entitlement issues.
You know how it is; we say a prayer for something that is really important to us and we feel that God should answer it immediately, in a way that suits us, thank-you very much.
There’s a great story in the Bible that illustrates humanity’s ongoing struggles with entitlement issues.
In 2 Kings, there was a commander named Naaman. He was a very good soldier and apparently well liked by all who knew him. Unfortunately, he had leprosy. That was a big deal back then. He desperately wanted to be healed.
A young girl from Israel, who happened to be a slave, told Namaan’s wife that there was a prophet in Samaria who could heal him. Her faith is noteworthy in this story as well.
Namaan went to see Elisha, the prophet, at his house. Elisha sent out a messenger to tell him to go wash himself seven times in the Jordan river and he would be healed. Wow! Healing was right around the corner, within his grasp. Was Namaan thankful or excited?
Nope. He was angry. He wanted Elisha to come out and wave his hand over him and heal him. He didn’t want to do any work and he wasn’t going to either. He was willing to ride away in his chariot angry and sick, rather than follow the steps to being healed.
Does this make you squirm at all? It makes me kind of uncomfortable. How many times do we have the opportunity to be healed and whole, but we aren’t willing to do the work? We don’t want to exercise. We don’t want to give up sugar, or drinking, or smoking. We don’t want to extend forgiveness and grace to heal broken relationships.
We also don’t want to do what it takes to receive true healing from God, which can only come from surrendering to Jesus. Then a closer walk, requires sustained daily prayer and the study of the Bible. Like Naaman, we have so much freedom and power in our grasp, but we have to be willing to do the work.
Luckily for Naaman, his servants stepped in and begged him to go to the Jordan and do what he was told. He was healed, just as he was told he would be. At last, he was thankful.
It seems that the best way to keep ourselves from feeling entitled, is to walk closely with God. When we keep our eyes on Him and try to answer His call instead of following our own whims, we can walk in humility. Humility is the opposite of entitlement.
We can also surround ourselves with Godly people who will help point us in the right direction when we stumble, like Naaman’s servants did. In the end, their love and support put him on the right track.
Entitlement issues can be hard to tackle. They seem inborn on some level, but with God at the center of our lives and a little help from our friends, we really can defeat them.
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂