Deservitude | A Growing Problem by Bill Fix, the People Pastor
Do you suffer from deservitude? Deservitude is a word I made up. It is a false belief that God or someone else owes us something because we deserve it. When we begin to unpack deservitude, we find repulsive forms of this sin. Prejudice and arrogance are two of them.
Deservitude is a massive problem In various cultures, businesses, organizations, people groups, families, etc. As we identify deservitude in our own lives, and we will, the correct response is to hate it enough to purge it from our life.
God is deserving of our praise, and we should be in the business of lifting high His name. We do not own or deserve anything, not even our air. Our air is a blessing from God. What a travesty when we breathe in a blessing then breathe out cursing, gossiping, bragging, rage, and lying. We should acknowledge that what God gives to us is beyond what we deserve. Our God is perfect in every way; We are not perfect.
Deservitude is similar to entitlement. We treat blessings like a benefits package we receive because of our greatness. Rethinking entitlement is a good idea. We receive so much more than we deserve. Our best response to the many accolades we receive from others is to be thankful. When praised, we should attempt to thank the praiser and defer the praise to God or the team.
It is easy to believe we deserve a promotion, raise, bonus, hand-out, or other benefits; after all, we worked hard for these things. The truth is, these are blessings. All good things come from God. As His children, He showers us with what we need and gives us abundantly more. We are stewards of what He gives to us, and we are to use our blessings to be a blessing.
We may be guilty of deservitude when we think we receive stimulus checks, bail-out money, welfare, and non-profit assistance because we deserve it. We may qualify for these things, but we do not deserve them. None of us are worthy. All of us are worthwhile. We can be a blessing to others; God gifts us to be a blessing. We should recognize and affirm each other’s talents, abilities, and gifts, but we should be careful not to think we deserve them. When we believe we are deserving, we are not being humble.
We need to identify deservitude in our lives and purge it. We should lovingly help others understand the sin of arrogance. We ought to praise God more, and we need to count our blessings. When we treat each other as created children of God, we will reap the peace and joy of God.