Recently I've found myself taking notice of many companies' advertising slogans, and I've found that many of them focus on a similar theme: that you deserve to get exactly what you want. For years Burger King has been telling customers that you can "Have it Your Way", and people respond to this because deep down they believe that they deserve to have things their way. In recent years the L'Oreal company has convinced women to spend a little more money to buy their products, by playing with the ego of their customers with the company's slogan "Because You're Worth It". Bruster's Ice Cream uses wordplay to entice consumers to "Treat Yourself", because advertiser's understand that, with very little prompting, the mass public will believe that they deserve to treat themselves. After some research I learned that this mindset isn't a new development at all. In the early 70s, McDonald's Corporation revealed a new advertising slogan which proclaimed to the general public that "You deserve a break today". Now I'm not trying to say that there's anything wrong with taking a break or treating yourself or even having things the way you like them occasionally, but what we must examine is this sense of entitlement or deserving mentality that most people clearly have.
If God desires for His children to be grateful people who place their value and identity in how He views them instead of their own self-esteem, then this "I deserve to have things my way" attitude is out of place in the heart of a Christian. It's impossible to be truly grateful for anything, when you believe that you deserve everything; gratitude has no place when you receive what you are owed. The same principle applies to self-esteem. Since we know that God wants us to consider others better than ourselves (Philippians 2:3), and that we should find our value in the knowledge that even though we were covered in sin, God loved us so much that He was willing to die for us. Based on that knowledge, we should never feel that we deserve to get things our way, and we should be grateful for everything we get. However, I bet if we pay attention to the things we complain about and the things we find ourselves arguing with others about, we would learn that we all have a slight deserving attitude. So how can we become grateful? How can we kill self-esteem, and develop God-esteem? The first thing you have to do is understand who God is and who you are.
The Bible makes it evident that everything-me, you, Ke$ha, the forests, the stars in the sky, the air that you breathe- was created to reveal the glory of God. I think many people misunderstand why the universe was created. Maybe you think that God was bored or lonely or just curious, but the truth is the universe was created to showcase the glory of God. When God created the world it was just a form of Him saying, "Hey, by the way, I'm awesome!". We know that it's not arrogant when God proclaims His glory, because He's getting what He deserves. When I say I'm awesome, it's completely arrogant, because I am not awesome. I may convince myself that I'm great, but compared to the standard of greatness, God, I fall so short that it's not even worth comparing. Culture tells us over and over again that life is about making the most of our experience here and looking out for ourselves, but as we learn from the Bible, our life is about making the most out of our time, so that we can maximize the glory of God on earth. Our role in the universe is nothing more than a supporting character for God; in other words, our lives are about highlighting the glory of God. You have to understand, the story of the universe, is God's story. He's the author and the star of His own story, and we're just the supporting characters in His story. It's not arrogant at all, because He is glorious and He is awesome.
This is where gratitude begins. This is where the grateful heart is formed, and self-esteem dies to God-esteem. It begins when you kneel at the foot of a blood-stained cross and stare at the glory that is the Son of God, and you say, "everything I am and everything I could ever do, amounts to nothing more than a teardrop in the ocean that is everything you've done for me!". God-esteem stems from when you realize that He is glorious, and in His glory He is working in you to make you glorious, because He loves you SO much. Gratitude begins when you understand everything you have comes from God, and nothing comes from yourself. The fact that you're even breathing is a gift, the fact that you have the ability to work and learn, and the mere gift that you are living in the most privileged country in the world is nothing that you deserve, but a gift from a God who values and loves you more than you could ever know. To ever refuse to use the gifts He's given you to reveal His glory, is such a waste of your time.
The only response when faced with the glory of God is to say: "Everything that I have is yours. Although I know nothing I could ever give could begin to amount to what you've given me, I give you what I have, because it's all I have to give". So, when God asks you to give time or money to His kingdom, you do so with gratitude, because it's just a small portion of the love He's given you. When God calls you to back off a little on one relationship and pour into another, you give to Him without thought for yourself. The amazing thing about our God is that even though He is so glorious and so amazing, He values us so highly that He was willing to die for us, and that is where we find our worth. Even though it's the last thing we deserved, it's the first place we should go to define ourselves, and definitely something to be grateful for.
Pray
Lift praise up to the God who is so glorious, that the whole earth gives Him praise.
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