The Myth of Entitlement

November 8, 2012

As Americans, we have grown entirely too comfortable with entitlement. Don't think so? How often are we beckoned by the words, "You deserve it"? Have you ever wondered WHY we "deserve" nice things? Many of you will say, "Because I work hard." On the surface, that sounds legit but from a world view, it no longer seems enough. My mother spared me from a life in a third world country when she emigrated, legally, from the Philippines with $20 in her pocket. As a single mom, she found a place for us in California and through hard work and sacrifice, we settled into our adopted country. When I wonder about why God gave me this chance, my first thought isn't, "Because I deserve it." I imagine His answer is, "I want to see what you're going to do with it." Whatever your spiritual affiliation, I want to boldly say, "We don't DESERVE anything." It is a privilege to work hard. It is our responsibility to help each other move forward and it is evil to step on or over each other to get ahead. We have not been blessed to be in the greatest country on earth to watch everyone around us suffer while a select few leave the rest of humanity behind. How lonely it must be to sit there with piles of stuff surrounded by people just as shallow. With all its blessings our country should be one worth following. Not because of what we have stored in our homes, or the bank, but because of what we DO with the resources we've been given. The theme of ENTITLEMENT is no longer working for us. The way we move forward, as a country UNITED, is by answering the question, "What are you going to do with it?" and allowing the answer to stretch beyond the walls of our homes, past our churches and into this world. I pray that our nation's crisis becomes a wake up call for UNITY. We need each other to push through and I hope you're wondering what your part will be to get back on track...and make no mistake. You HAVE a part to play and your contribution, or lack thereof, will help to move this country forward or lead us further into destruction. We've got to stop looking around, waiting for someone else, or the government, to fix what's broken. No one is being asked to do it alone but everyone is being called to do SOMEthing. Now that you're here, what are you going to do about it...?