Sense of Entitlement

We have all received grace upon grace from his fullness. —John 1:16

A friend of mine in his eighties who has faith- fully served the Lord for most of his life identified one of the most basic issues associated with ingratitude:

In my own life, I find that a default
position, hidden beneath the surface,
is an ever-present “entitlement” attitude.
his, more than any other single thing I
can identify, is my biggest problem.

When we take simple blessings for granted as if they were owed to us, or when we start to think that our general station in life is beneath what we deserve, ingratitude finds all the oxygen it needs to thrive.

One of the unseemly side effects of all the effort and energy our society has invested in building our individual and collective self-esteem is that our culture is now rife with this super high level of deservedness. The higher our standard of living it seems the more demanding and discontented we become. Be careful where you place the bar for what you can and can’t live with or without. The height of that baseline affects just about everything.