Best vs. Easy; Habits III

Matt.20:²⁸ “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

We are still looking at the habits of choosing what is best over what is easy. Habit number one; change I deserve to I am responsible. Habit number two; do the hard things first. Habit number three; keep inconvenient commitments. This habit will get rid of entitlement in your life totally. The entitled person says, ‘I will keep the commitment if it is convenient’. So, a meeting has been scheduled for 2 o’clock, then at half past one or at half past two, the person sends you a text message saying, ‘So sorry, something came up.’ This happens the first time, then the second time and again the third time – what would you be thinking about the person? He or she is not serious. In Ps.15:^4b God says we should be people who “…keep their promises even when it hurts” (emphasis added). When you keep inconvenient commitments, you eradicate entitlement from your life. You need to decide, am I going to be grateful or am I going to be entitled?

Habit number four is, engage in service. Research shows that people who serve are more fulfilled. For example, the people who serve communities through Non-Governmental Organizations are more fulfilled. People who do not serve are more frustrated. Matt.20:²⁸ “Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (NIV). If you want to inoculate your children, your family, even your workforce (if you are a business owner) from the feeling of entitlement, let them serve. Let your children serve. Let your staff serve. I heard about a company that paid their staff to volunteer in the community and they recorded that staff productivity shot up astronomically. Why? It is because people who serve have a sense of purpose. People who serve are satisfied; it is unexplainable.

The problem many times is people are too selfish. It must be just about us. However, when we put other people before ourselves, we become better people. When you serve, you get rid of entitlement to a large extent, why? It is because entitled people do not serve, but grateful people do. Take the church community for instance, entitled people do not serve, they feel entitled. Some say, ‘Children should be taken care of. Your church has a fantastic children’s church. In that other place, they did not take care of our children so, we left.’ I am looking at the person and my question to him or her is, what if you had served, volunteered yourself there. Does it have to be about you? There are many ways to serve particularly in church, you do not have to wait until you become a worker to serve. In God’s Favourite House and I am sure in other churches as well, there are different ways to serve. Just ensure that you are serving, make sure you are doing things that only God can pay you for. You can either be grateful or you can be entitled, but you cannot be both. So, what is it going be – are you going to be grateful or entitled?

Prayer: Holy Spirit, please help me change ‘I deserve’ to ‘I am responsible’, to do the hard things first, to keep inconvenient commitments and engage in service, in Jesus Name. Amen!