Entitlement or Contentment Study

My parents were perfectly content to live in this trailer for the first few years of their lives. My father eventually owned a successful business and had a nice home, but I never knew him to express a sense of entitlement. That's my sweet mother on the steps. 

There was a time when people were not so discontent and entitled in America. This is a picture of my parents' first home, a mobile home. They lived in this home for several years, and so did my sister and I.

As an introduction to this study please read the 1-minute devotion The Poison of Entitlement.

Bible Study

In some rare cases, discontent is a good thing. For example, being discontent with our walk with the Lord and wanting to know Him better.

But in most cases, lack of contentment is simply a case of being dissatisfied with what we have. And entitlement takes discontent to a higher and more ungodly level. It is the self-deception that tells us we deserve things we can't afford. 

1. Matthew 6:19-21, 24-25 
This passage became especially real to me about thirty years ago when we moved into our government quarters in Ft. Leavenworth, KS, and found that the previous occupants had unknowingly left behind a little bug (probably brought from overseas) that ate wool. 

Before we were able to completely fumigate our quarters and belongings, this little bug had destroyed hundreds of dollars of our belongings. 

If you want to read the whole story, it's here: This Bugged Me.  

Matthew 6:19-21, 24-25:  "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also ... 24 No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. 25 Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?" 

2. 1 John 2:15-17

This passage contains a good list of things that bring discontent: physical lusts (e.g. food, sex), visual lusts (e.g. pornography, material things), things that build self-pride (e.g. position, power, awards).

1 John 2:15-17: "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever." 

3. Philippians 4:12-13

Statistics show that only a small percentage of those identifying themselves as born-again Christians give even 10% of their income to God's work. What does that tell us about contentment?

Philippians 4:12-13: "I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him [Jesus] who gives me strength." 

Copyright 2013, Gail Burton Purath, BiteSizeBibleStudy.com, edited and updated in 2021

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