Transcription
They have, in some number of ways, probable ways of overcoming the sense of entitlement. What I will share on just three.
I begin by bringing your attention to one scripture, Ecclesiastes chapter 9, verse 11. Ecclesiastes chapter 9, verse 11, Good News Translation. It says, "I realized another thing."
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"That in this world, fast runners do not always win the race. The brave do not always win the battle. The wise do not always end a living. Intelligent people do not always get rich. Intelligent people do not always get rich." It's a pattern. It's a pattern. And so, you know, we need to be careful when we apportion blame for some of our challenges. And then he also says, "Incapable people do not always rise to high positions. Bad luck happens to everyone."
This is the holy scripture. Abraham Lincoln said, "You cannot help people permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves." Our holy Bible tells us that he who will not walk, let him not eat.
One of the biggest mistakes you can make with a man or woman with an entitlement mentality, and who is already a grown, well-grown adult, and is manifesting that trait. One of the mistakes you must not make is to reinforce that mentality in him by doing what he's asking for. Because the more you continue to give them what they are demanding for without paying the price, you reinforce their conviction. You reinforce their conviction.
However, experts will say that while you tell them no, give them a good explanation. Or else, if you leave them without an explanation, they would also see it as your treatment, as one of those unfair experiences, you know, that they have had in the from the hands of people, and also from you as well. So politely explain to them why it will be done that way. Explain.
Brené Brown will say that what separates privilege from entitlement is gratitude. What separates privilege from entitlement is gratitude. Steve Maraboli will say that when we replace a sense of service and gratitude, I repeat, service and gratitude, service and gratitude, when we replace it with a sense of entitlement and expectation. So look at the two now: service and gratitude against a sense of entitlement and expectation. He said, "Any time this begins to happen, we say we quickly will see the demise of our relationship, our society, and our economy."
And one Craig will say, "An attitude of thanksgiving will thrive, and it will bring life into any place where a heart of appreciation and gratitude, a heart of appreciation and gratitude, refuses to give way to a brooding sense of entitlement. It's called your greed, or any other lesser attitudes that keep company with such things."
So if you suspect that you have a sense of gratitude for entitlement, or any of your children, I begin to manifest the sense of entitlement. Because this evil is more, the problem is even more with children. And the time, the best time to correct it is when they are still children, teens, or young adults. The moment, because if they grow up to become full-blown adults with this mentality, there will be issues. There will be issues later in life.
And we are seeing this happen a lot in marriages now, where a man is a husband, and he doesn't care about family responsibility. Because possibly some of them, not all, have been raised in, you know, in a situation, a background where, you know, anything they want, they just ask for it. You don't work for it. Nothing comes as a reward for hard work or obedience to some given assignment. You just get everything you want. And when I get into marriage, it begins to play out negatively.
So there are ways to deal with it. And one of them also is to, is a change of mindset. Change of mindset. Great. Practicing gratitude. Practicing humility. Practicing contentment. The humility is key to flushing out the spirit of entitlement. And some red flags that indicate the presence of the spirit of pride. One, if you think that your success or achievements is based only on your efforts, your hard work, or intelligence, and there's no God factor, pride is present in the life of that person. If you are always feeling superior to others, pride is there. Maybe you, you know, you came from a, a better privileged family background, and your husband happened to have come from a very modest and humble background. So you, you always continue to look down on the family, your husband's family, and your husband. So you feel you are entitled to be pampered, even to the detriment of your husband. You have a problem. If you always want to control and dominate other people, this is present. It's a sign of the presence of pride, spirit of Jesus bear. You want to control people, you want to dominate people everywhere you are. If you think that you are better than other people, it's a presence of pride. It's a presence of pride. If you want people to notice you anywhere you go, it's a presence. It's a sign of the presence of pride. If you are a graduate and you feel too big to do anything small as a starting point, it's a presence of pride. So you rather sit at home waiting for one big job. It suppresses a show of the presence of Christ. So humility is the ability not to estimate yourself above others. A humble person is not offended when is replaced.
The spirit of entitlement is that spirit that makes you feel is an insult for you to also sit down and let another person do what you have been doing. It's a spirit of entitlement. You, you see it as an insult. You see it as a humiliation. "Do they know who I am?" Ability to give respect and honor to other people, not just accept respect. Ability to give respect and honor to other people is another sign of humility. And people that are humble, they have a sense of gratitude, and they have no difficulty expressing it publicly, not in secret.
One problem with the proud, and of course men and women with the entitlement spirit, is that they believe, most of them believe they merit every act of promotion, of honor, or promotion confirmed on them. So the day their name comes out, the day their name is announced, the day they are honored, you, the immediate remarks you hear from them are things like, "I have paid my dues. What have they been waiting for? I'm the most qualified. If not me, who else will get it?" Proud people don't know the difference between personal rights and acts of kindness, acts of favor. But if he's a humble person that has been honored or promoted, you will hear things like, "Who am I to be so honored? Why me? This is too big for me." Even though they are going to take that thing, but at least they will say, "This is too big for me. Why me?" The humble have a sense of gratitude, and they never forget their days of little beginning. They are conscious of the trap of Deuteronomy 8:17, and that is the tendency to claim personal credit for your success and empowerment, and then play the God factor.
The second thing you need is gratitude. Gratitude will neutralize the spirit of entitlement. Gratitude is about making a deliberate effort to show you appreciate something that has been done, either for you, your family, your loved ones, or even someone that may not be close to you. Gratitude is the act of being thankful for something that has been done for you or someone dear to your heart. It is act of being thankful for something that you have received. There is a sense of entitlement, and there is also a sense of gratitude. Choose one. Choose one. Choose one.
Are you working somewhere? Sense of entitlement will lead to sack and retrenchment, even when you are qualified. And in the same environment, a sense of gratitude will take you to the very top. Will take you to the very top. Practice gratitude for everything, every good thing in your life, no matter how small, no matter how insignificant it may seem at that time. At that time, be grateful for every phase of your life. Be grateful because you are also going to think back. You are going to think back that, "I remember those days with my social and so and we praise God. We praise God. We pray you will remember what happened at every time." So let it not be on record that there was a long phase of your life where just because of maybe the way things were going around you, and you just went off God completely. That must never happen. Practice gratitude. You have a hard-working husband. Whatever God helps him to put on the table for the house, be grateful. Be grateful. Don't despise what he's doing today. You are a child. You are, don't, don't ever look at, uh, don't look at what you see publicly. Don't try to estimate how you think people stand. If you have some friends that are currently in foreign universities, to God be the glory. Don't give your father issues. Don't give your parents issues because they have sent you to a private or public university. Because a time is coming in the days ahead where that that behavior could become a big problem for that child in the season ahead. Those who are having everything good today did not have it so some years back. Be grateful for every season of your life.
And please, as we close, let your happiness be unconditional. You know, we all make these, we fall into this mystic, and we sometimes say, "Ah, once God does this thing, I'll be very happy." So you remain quiet until that thing happens. That is what we call unconditional, uh, conditional happiness. But God wants you to operate in the realm of unconditional happiness, that at every point in time, you have a reason to be happy and to celebrate the presence of God in your life. You hear some people say, "I'll be happy when I get that promotion." It ought not to be so. Be happy even before the promotion. Be happy. When someone will say, "I'll be happy when I marry that that man or that kind of man." Don't wait until that happens. And God will speed up the manifestation in Jesus' name.
And the last thing is contentment. When you add contentment to gratitude, you will be able to, you know, consistently arrest the spirit of entitlement. And don't get things wrong. Contentment doesn't mean you shouldn't aspire for great things. No. A contentment means you are, at every point in time, you are satisfied and happy with what you currently have, while at the same time you are aspiring for greater things. As contentment. So when we demonstrate humility, have a heart of humility, we demonstrate gratitude consistently to God and to man, and then we learn to have a heart of contentment while we aspire for great things, we are able to curtail the excesses of the spirit of entitlement.
I believe our parents have also can also take something. I won't miss that. Please, as we said earlier, you are entitled to certain things, even from your children. But let's be careful on the quantity and the quality that we insist on. The quality and the quantity we insist on. It can become an issue and move you into the realm of a sense of entitlement, instead of just benefiting from something that you ordinarily ought to receive from the order of a child.