Entitlement

God don’t owe us nothing!! 

🫶🏽 Luke 17:7-10 

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Hey y'all, how y'all doing? Um, it has been a little bit of a hiatus. Um, first of all, welcome to Eden Citizen. My name is Brie, and I kind of want to start off the episode just kind of giving y'all an update, you know, explaining myself, if you will. I will be so for real. These last couple of weeks, I have felt so drained and so exhausted. And I actually in the middle of recording this, because this is like my second or third take, um, I stumbled on my words previously, and I was like, okay, let's just re-let's just restart. Luckily, I hadn't gotten too far into it. However, I had a whole revelation in the middle of recording. Uh exhaustion and being drained lately is directly connected to the fact that I am doing a lot of pouring out. However, I'm not really getting poured into specifically from the Lord. Like I have my friends, I have my family, I have community, I have people that are constantly pouring into me, but I haven't really been that intentional in my quiet time. And I'm someone who I feel like I've built a routine where I do some sort of quiet time every day, whether it's a short devotional or actually doing my Bible plan or sitting and journaling with worship music. However, that time has just gotten shorter and shorter. And I've gotten so caught up with the busyness of work and things like that. And I just have not been, you know, I've haven't been seeking fresh oil every day. And so I'm kind of, you know, the saying is kind of cliche, but definitely pouring out of an empty cup. And uh, I think from a worldly perspective, I have been getting poured into. Like I said, people have been there for me, people have been loving on me, it's been amazing, but I haven't been going to the source, and I haven't been getting what I need from the source um intentionally, I would say, because I've kind of built this routine or obligation of, yeah, let me open my Bible first thing in the morning. But like, are you really present, you know? So yeah, I'm just starting out with the confession. That's how I've been. Uh, we are now at the end of March, which is crazy. I feel like this year is just flying by already. But I'm really excited to jump into the topic today. That's not even the topic. That was just that was just me giving you all a life update. But um, I'm excited to talk about today's topic. It came up um because in my Bible plan, I'm doing the Bible in a year um Bible plan. Uh it's Terry Lee Cobble. I'm blanking on the name right now, but essentially you read through the Bible in a year. I've mentioned this before, I'm on like year two and a half. I started this in like 2024 or 2023, and you know, we're still chugging along, but I'm very close. I'm in the gospels at least, and so um, pretty much you read a chunk every day, you listen to her give context, and I love it. I would 100% recommend um this plan, however, that's not the point. Um, I'm in Luke, and I was reading specifically Luke 17, and I came across this passage, and it completely like blew my mind, if you will. I was like, wait, it was just so um clear in the way it speaks to my mindset, and a lot of people I know like our heart posture, our mindset. And I'm just gonna go ahead and read it. So this is in Luke 17. Um, I'll start. Let's do Luke 17, 7. And this is Jesus talking to his disciples. When a servant comes in from plowing or taking care of sheep, does his master say, Come in and eat with me? No, he says, Prepare my meal, put on your apron, and serve me while I eat. Then you can eat later. And does the master thank the servant for doing what he was told to do? Of course not. In the same way, when you obey me, you should say, We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty. This immediately makes me think of like when I was growing up, and I would ask my mom, like, you know, why do I have to do something? Like she'd say, like, make up your bed. And if I dared ask, like, why, she's like, Cause I because I said so, you know, like, and I think that answer as a child can feel super annoying, and people are moving away from that parenting. However, I do think that in some circumstances, the heart behind it, I now get it as an adult. Uh we do things because that person is an authority figure in our life. It's someone that we respect, it's someone that we were called to honor, specifically in a parent role. And so we don't need an explanation as to why, you know, they ask us to do things. We just we just need to do it. And that framework is a setup for how our relationship with the Lord should be. We do things because we trust him and because he's our father and he is our our master, um, he's our Lord. So we don't necessarily need an explanation when he asks us to do things. We don't need, you know, a justification for why we have to do XYZ. We should do it just because of who he is. And I I love this passage because it kind of just says that so plainly. That's why I say my mind was blown, because you know, sometimes you read the Bible and you really have to like read things over and over again to kind of like interpret or kind of understand. Like you really have to lock in, and I'm the type, like I'll Google what words mean, and you know, things like that. But with this particular passage, I feel like it's so blunt and so straightforward. It says, like, going back to nine, and does the master thank the servant for doing what he was told to do? Of course not. In the same way, when you obey me, you should say, We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty. This passage is speaking directly to entitlement, and I think this is a underlying kind of sneaky thing that creeps into some of our hearts, along with pride. Entitlement is something that is so easy to like accidentally slip into that we don't even realize it. God is going to bless you. You know, if you go through this thing, he's gonna, he's gonna do it. You're gonna come out on the other side and he's gonna do all these amazing things. And hear me when I say this, I'm not totally against that teaching per se. Um, I think that we've almost it's we've almost swung the pendulum all the way to the other side and kind of gone into this like insufferable, miserable posture of like, you know, yeah, um, you know, we don't want to teach prosperity gospel, so we're almost teaching like the poor gospel. Like, oh, you know, you're just gonna be sad and it's gonna be a hard walk and you're gonna suffer, and that's it. And you know, you may never see here on this earth uh happiness again, but you need to keep trucking along because this isn't about happiness. I'm obviously like exaggerating, however, I'm saying that I'm not totally with that, like I'm not on that level or on that side of things that I think sometimes can be taught nowadays. And it's just a natural response to prosperity gospel and you know, clarifying that you know, this walk is about suffering. There is there is suffering in this walk, there's suffering outside of this walk, it's just you get to suffer with Jesus. However, with the going to the prosperity gospel or the teaching of, you know, once you do this, God's gonna bless you with this, it creates kind of this entitlement in our hearts where we start to expect something for our obedience. We expect some sort of reward for doing what we're supposed to do. And that's a dangerous place to be in because if you're expecting it in a way that is very specific and very like, okay, I'm doing this so I can get this, or I'm doing this and I'm expecting he's gonna do it this way, in the chance that he doesn't do it that way, we find ourselves very disappointed and struggling with our faith and struggling with trusting God. And I think that's why it's important to recognize when we have entitlement, because if entitlement creeps in, our heart posture shifts, our motives shift, and we just end up disappointed. Ultimately, we get the short end of the stick because the Lord is good and he's sovereign and he knows best. And if we're entitled or we feel entitled to whatever it is that we feel he's promised us or whatever we want him to do, it now puts him in a place of, you know, how people say like a genie rather than like a god. And it's funny because I remember the first time someone compared God to a genie, like they were like, Yeah, y'all think that he's a genie, he, you know, answers your three wishes rather than a god. I'm gonna be so thrill with you. I think young in my faith, I heard that and I was like, Well, what's wrong with that? Like, do I want a genie? Like, I was like, you know, someone who answered my wishes, um, that that would be kind of cool. And I think I had a split moment where I was like, what is what is wrong with that? Looking at him as like someone who answers our prayers, because he is a good God, he does love me, he's my father. And the word literally says he gives good gifts. So, you know, why not look at him as someone who grants my wishes? But then now, obviously more mature, and just over time, I realized with a genie, there's no depth in that relationship. Like I look at, I think about Aladdin and like the genie, I forgot his name or if he had a name, but there was no like that relationship between Aladdin and the genie does not even compare, does not even hold a candle to the relationship that I have with the Lord. There's so much depth, and there's so much, you know, detail that is present in our relationship that is more than just his hand. It's more than just granting wishes. Like, he doesn't just grant wishes when I'm in the dark and no one knows what I'm going through and I'm crying. Like, he's right there with me. He's right there wiping my tears. He's right there speaking life into me and reminding me of his goodness. Um, even looking back before I really knew him for real, he was still walking beside me. Like he does so much more than just grant wishes or give me what I want. Like there, there's so much beauty in that relationship. And I'm kind of blanking on how I got here. I think going back to the entitlement piece, if we're slip into looking at him as just a hand, as someone who just blesses us, and we're expecting that, and we are not holding a heart posture of he doesn't owe me anything, he doesn't have to do this for me. If we slip into the entitlement, it cheapens the relationship we have with the Lord, essentially. I think back to like 2023 to maybe mid-2025, I would definitely say that that was kind of like a wilderness for me for many reasons. Uh, I've talked about this before, but we're, you know, we'll continue to talk about it. I lived in a place that I did not want to live, in a state that I did not want to live in. Um, I felt very lonely at times. I did have community and it was beautiful, but I didn't have any of my family really around me. Um I just remember waking up and whenever I'd like wake up from a nap, I would be so disappointed that I lived where I lived. Like I was really it was yeah, I was really struggling. So I was not happy with my environment, um, not happy with my job. I was working retail at the time, and it was obviously temporary because I was in school, but in the moment, it felt very humbling um to get up early in the morning and go fold leggings for like six to eight hours a day. So there was that, and on top of all of that, the icing on the cake, I was really struggling in my singleness. And again, just feeling so lonely and feeling like everyone around me had been walking in this season of you know, finding their person and getting married and experiencing these beautiful milestones, and I I felt just really lonely in that area specifically romantically, and so yeah, 20 2023 to like mid-2025 was uh interesting. I would say I don't even think it's fair to say 2025 because I really did experience a shift early on. However, we won't get into logistics, I'll just say 2023 to end of 2024. Okay, and in that season, like looking back, I experienced a lot of roller coasters in my emotions and in my relationship with the Lord and in my trust in him because I was like, Lord, I'm in a situation that I don't want to be in physically, emotionally, mentally, like I'm I just don't want to be here. And meaning, like, I didn't want to live there, I didn't want to be single, I didn't want to work at that job, like I was really just feeling like I'm doing a whole bunch of things that I don't want to do. And in that, when I tell you, like I have the journals to prove it because I'm a big journaler, he met me like I can't even like I've never been met before. Like my relationship with him blossomed in that season because I was completely and utterly dependent upon him. The amount of lamenting, the amount of disappointment and sadness that I took to him, and he like miraculously shifted, and then I would have to go and do it the next day again and again because it would come up again. And the amount of just tears that I've cried, and he literally wiped my tears and just sat with me in my grief and in my disappointment, and even looking in the season that I'm in now, things that I specifically would write about, or promises that I'd hold on to, or dreams that I'd had, like he actually was listening and taking note and being like, Bet, like, you know, let me implement it in this next season. Like, he actually heard every single thing. And I think in the moment I was wondering if he was hearing things, like I was like, I'm sure that he is here, but I don't know if he's really listening for real. But like, there was thoughts that like really like crossed my mind very like not serious for real, like it was just really like fleeting thoughts, and and I'm seeing things like that come up in this season. I'm like, oh, you know, you really did hear me and you listened to me, and you're in the details. That's crazy. But I say all that to say that in that season, one major thing that I struggled with was entitlement because I wasn't perfect by any means, however, I tried my best to walk upright in that season. Um, I tried my best to be obedient in different areas and really be a good steward of my time and try to invest in the things that I believe that he wanted me to invest in. And so I was faithfully serving at my church, I was taking on roles that I probably wouldn't have taken on um because I was stepping out of my comfort zone. I was really trying to trust him in my finances, um, and you know, just being transparent in relationships, I ran a strict program. I ran a very strict program, and um I was like, you know, if this is not who you have for me, once he made it known, it was like, all right, you know, I sat in my loneliness, I sat in my grief, and um, I didn't run from it. And I didn't cope in a way, you know, I had my moments, but I really tried my best to lean on him, especially in that area, and uh really try to be obedient and do what he was calling me to do and have integrity in that season, actually behind closed doors do what I was presenting to other people or do what um I felt like he was asking me to do. And you know, in that, in the routine of all of that, I started to develop entitlement of like, okay, Lord, I'm doing what you've asked me to do. I'm being obedient and I'm doing all the things. So, you know, you better give me what I'm asking for, which is crazy to even say that out loud, to even like voice that, but that was a heart posture that I was starting to slip into. I was starting to have this entitlement of like, Lord, I'm doing XYZ. So here's how the formula works you need to give me ABC. And it's so sad because I think that again, I went so long not even realizing that was my heart posture. It really was a sermon that actually opened my eyes to it, ironically. It was uh Pastor Madu from Social Dallas, he had an episode on entitlement and he used various examples, but he used one example of like us driving on the highway, and we're complaining about driving on the highway when in reality we should be in gratitude that we have a car to get to a X, you know, from from A to B. We have a job to go to, like there's things that we can be grateful for, but we still find things to complain about, and we feel like we're entitled to this like easy life. And that woke me up. That woke me up for real. It at least planted a seed. Of, like, oh, like maybe I'm actually not entitled to the things that I'm asking for. Like, maybe my obedience in this season is not tied to what I'm expecting in the next season. If he chooses to bless me, amazing, lovely, you know, I will be eternally grateful. However, he has already done more than enough. Salvation in itself was enough. The fact that I don't have to spend eternity um in darkness is enough. And I had to really bring it back to that truth and regularly remind myself of that because entitlement is just sneaky like that, it creeps in. But it really kind of brought clarity of like, oh, I, you know, he doesn't owe me these things, and my my works in this season are like filthy rags, you know, it it doesn't mean anything. I'm just doing what I'm supposed to do. Going back to the passage, we are the servants, he is the master. And so, you know, it says in 10, Luke 17, 10, we are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty. This is something I have to remind myself currently is that I'm simply an unworthy servant doing my duty. Whenever I'm struggling to remember kind of why I'm obedient, or I'm that child asking my parent, asking the Lord, why do I have to do this? So-and-so not doing this, you know, and I'm not even seeing results. You know, why do I have to do this? Because he said so. And we should be honored to do the thing, whatever it is, the hard thing, the obedience. We do it because that's that's what we're supposed to do. And um I think we've kind of we've kind of fell into this culture of needing um applause for everything, and I think it goes back to the seeking approval. It always goes back to that for me, like seeking approval, seeking validation. But I definitely think we live in a society of like accomplishments and receiving applause for accomplishments. And again, I think it's a response of for so many people, they were kind of modest about their accomplishments, and it became normal to not hype yourself up to the point where people were maybe like self-deprecating. And so now we've swung to the opposite of like now, people feel the need to announce every single thing. Which I'm not knocking that. I definitely feel like if your heart posture is, you know, hey, I want to, you know, let people know or be proud. I'm proud of what I've accomplished. I think there's nothing wrong with that. But we've essentially made it like almost like the accomplishment isn't valid unless we post about it or unless we, you know, throw a party or whatever. Um, I don't want to go too far left, but I really feel like my uh, I really feel like my generation, not my generation, but maybe my class, like class of 2016, high school, I really feel like we kind of started this mess. I'm not gonna lie. Again, I hope to not go into too much of a tangent. I'll make it quick. But my year was the first year that I saw people posting their scholarships broken down, like from each school. Okay, I promise this is not me hating, but like my year was a f it used to be like, hey, I got a scholarship to this school, right? My year was the first year I would see people announce, they would add up every scholarship they got from every school, and they would be like, Oh, I got like over $2 million in scholarships and then like listing out every school, and then I'm gonna pick this, you know, this school. Again, I think there's nothing wrong with celebrating yourself and being proud, especially if you've, you know, been accepted into multiple universities, something like that. Like, that's definitely something to be proud about. But it became like a flex contest, like with graduation. It really started with prom, if you know, you know, but it became like a contest to see like okay, how many people could could who could who could get the most scholarships, you know, who can apply to 50 schools and get scholarships from each school and like get the most money in scholarships, essentially. Again, I don't want to sound like a hater, so I'm gonna end it there. But bringing it back to my original point, we've kind of lived, we live in a society where we feel the need to be applauded for every single thing, every single accomplishment. And I think that can translate to our relationship with the Lord, where we now do things and we look to him like, see, Lord, I did it. You know, like I did this for you. Where's my hand claps? Where's my reward? And in the passage, again, it says, and does the master thank the servant for doing what he was told to do? Of course not. That part really like shook me a little bit because I was like, oh, like, not only is he not gonna sit here and clap for you, he's not even thankful. You know, he's not like, oh yes, thank you for obeying me, child. Thank you for not sleeping around, thank you for not going to that party when I told you to not go to that party. Like, thank you for you know, ending those friendships with those people because I asked you to. Thank you for being obedient and doing what I told you to do. Like, he doesn't say thank you for those things, and I think sometimes that's what we're expecting, sometimes that's what we're wanting. I'm saying that because that that was me, and that is me still. I find myself doing things and I look up to him and I'm like, oh, see, I did that, I did that, so you know what do I get now? And that's just that's nasty work, like that's crazy to to even be expecting something like that. It's really just a a call-in, if you will, not a call out, but a call-in that uh we need to to quit that. And again, it's so sneaky. It is so sneaky because other people can applaud us for our behavior. When it comes to the Lord, I found that like other people would be like, I see you out here, you know, doing the thing, killing it, like, you know, um, you someone I felt so um, I felt so honored. Someone that I actually looked up to was like, you inspire me, like in your relationship with the Lord. I said, Me, me, you know, I just I I couldn't believe it. However, I think other people in with good intention and with love can often like kind of boost us a little bit. And we may start to be like, you know what? I am doing the thing, I am doing what I'm supposed to do, you know. I am doing XYZ. And so then, going back to identity, we then place our identity in our works, and we then say, like, yes, I'm the person who is a hundred percent obedient, I'm the person who is faithful and serving him, and that's who I am. And when you put your identity in that, just know if if you've never done that, just know that that is the quickest way to be shot down. That is the quickest way to be humble because you realize we're literal humans. You will mess up five seconds later and be like, oh, actually, you know, but I think that it's just, and I've said this 10,000 times on here, it is so easy to accidentally slip into a heart posture of entitlement and feeling like he owes us something. And this is not to devalue obedience or the works that you do because of the Lord. And I use that language intentionally. We don't necessarily do it for him, we do it because of him, because of who he is, uh, because he's our father, because he's our Lord, because he's our savior, because he loves us, and he's so kind to us, and he has just blessed us immensely with eternal life. That's why we do what we do, because of his positioning, not because we're doing it for him. You know, we're we're working for him, and this is just something that he's asking us to do, so he needs to be thankful that we're doing it. Um, and I think that, you know, going back to singleness and the struggle of trying to walk upright in singleness or even in dating in relationships, this is something that a lot of people, again, in sermons or in podcasts, I think they accidentally frame it as if you walk upright, if you're obedient, if you obey him and uh are holy and set apart in your singleness or in dating, God will bless you with the person. God will bring this amazing, wonderful person, and they will be your reward for your uprightness. And not only will God bring that person, but He's gonna bring it in five minutes versus like five hours or five months, you know, because of your obedience, because of your uprightness. And again, they may not say that like those words specifically, but I think sometimes the messaging in the language implies that, implies that your obedience determines the timing of when you meet your person or who your person is gonna be in comparison to maybe your friends', you know, relationships. And that is a myth. Um, I think that, you know, while obedience does not determine the timing and um like how your person shows up, how quickly, who they are, I definitely feel like obedience and walking upright and being set apart and having integrity in your singleness and in dating um determines how you show up when that person does come and the qualities and characteristics that you bring to the relationship. And there may be challenges that you're able to handle easily in that next season because of the season prior you prepared well. In my opinion, that is the only like guarantee, I think, from what I've seen in in others. Like that's something that I have seen a direct correlation, if you will. However, the timing, eh. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry to say that. Um, and I've and I've said this before. If he wants you to wait 10 years, that's exactly how long it'll be. I really don't know the science or timing. I know his timing is perfect, but I really don't, there's no formula as to, you know, how quickly this thing happens for you. And I think that just to kind of wrap this up, with entitlement, I'm someone who spent, like I said, a while slipping into that heart posture of entitlement. And when things weren't going my way, when I wasn't able to move in the timing that I wanted to move, when I hadn't met my person and other people were meeting their person, their people, and I was still stuck at that retail job. I was like, Lord, what is going on? I'm doing all of the things. But once I kind of got out of that and was really focused on, okay, the things that I do are not for him, but because of him. Once that I switched my mindset and my heart posture, it became a lot easier to do those things. And it no longer felt like a burden, it no longer felt like an obligation, it no longer felt like grunt work or you know, a job to be obedient, but it just it just was. I just do, I just do what I'm supposed to do because that's what I'm supposed to do. Like again, going to the parent example, I make up my bed and uh I do the chores because that's what I'm supposed to do. Because my parents put a roof over my head, yeah, but like they're my parents. Like I just I'm supposed to be obedient. That's just you know, because of who they are. I think that's the core of okay, how do we get out of entitlement? It's knowing who he is and restoring your reverence and honor for the Lord. Of I do these things because of who he is, and frankly, I deserve uh, I'm trying to put this in a cute way, but I deserve hell. Like, I don't deserve eternal life with the Lord, I don't deserve um to just have this beautiful ending, but I do because he loves me. And so because of who he is, because of you know his choice to save me, it's nothing for me to do what he's called me to do and to do what he's asked me to do. It's nothing for me to quit cussing, it's nothing for me to um kind of work with integrity at my job. It's nothing for me to, you know, not sleep around because that's the least I can do, frankly. You know, let me start working on this pride, let me start working on this, you know, uh, these these negative things that I have in my heart. Like, I think that's just the the core of it is we have to take on a heart posture of this is the least I can do. Actually, I can do more. And not to go into like work spaced, but if we have a heart posture of really, I'm just doing what he's asked me to do, it becomes again a lot easier to do those things. And you start to realize how fragile and how um real our humanity is because we're not capable, frankly, of paying him back in any way, shape, or form. Like we could be obedient for every day of the rest of our lives and in every minute do what he's asked us to do, and it still would not compare to everything that he's done for us. But I found that when I'm out of that entitlement, when my identity is not found in my works, I become a lot less works-based. And I'm again not perfect. However, when I do fall short, when I do find myself, like I mentioned earlier, spending less time with him, it's not the end of the world. It's really not. It's more so like, okay, girl, lock in. Like, we're gonna do better tomorrow. And we move on. That's that's that's where we're at. It's not it's not earth-shattering shame. Lord, I've forsaken you. Like, it just is what it is. I am repentant, however, my my shortcomings are not my identity because my works are not my identity. So that may be a whole other conversation, but um, we are at 40 minutes, and I don't know if y'all can tell from my voice, but I'm fighting a little bit of a cold. So I'm gonna end it here. But yeah, I think I just want to leave you guys with some encouragement. If you have found yourself slipping into that entitlement um and that prideful heart posture of like, I deserve this thing. Um, I just pray that um, or I want to encourage you to pray that the Lord shift your heart. And He will. He definitely will, He'll shift your heart and He'll shift your perspective. And so, yeah, love you guys, and I pray that you have an amazing week.