Sharing My Life (3/7/09): Entitlement

Living in Maple Grove and working with clients who live in and around the Twin Cities area often means that I’ve got a bit of a commute in the morning. Often, as I’m driving in, I listen to talk radio to hear the news of the day. When I listen to people’s reaction to our times, I hear a lot of entitlement. People see injustice all around and look to the government or others to fix the problems, even when they themselves may be the real cause of the problems in their lives. We so often find it easier to look outside than within.

One of the biggest changes I have noticed in my life since beginning to work a recovery program has been the sharp decrease in my sense of entitlement. I used to get mad at my teachers for giving me so much work, mad at my supervisors for expecting so much of me, mad at my friends for not being there when I needed them, the list goes on. I was even mad at God, sometimes for being so elusive about His will for my life. Yet over the past few years, I have found myself learning to trade entitlement for gratefulness. Now I am beginning to see the work people give me, the expectations they may have of me, and the presence of my friends in my life and things to be so thankful for. God has indeed blessed me richly over the years, and to me, feeling entitled to it, robs it of it’s true work. As James, the brother of Christ, writes,” Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17).