Have you ever seen a little kid throw a tantrum at a store?
She whines. She cries. She screams. She wants her toy, and she wants it now.
I’m afraid we’re a little like that kid sometimes.
We whine about our day. We cry about our problems. We scream because we’re not getting our way.
And then we run to our habit for comfort.
Like the little kid in the store, we feel like we have a right to indulge our desires.
But do we? Really?
Or would God say, You need to give up your rights to love me and others well?
It is so hard to see life from God’s point of view. I’m struggling with it right now as I write these words. Everything’s gone wrong today, and I want to indulge in my habit.
My only hope is to go to His Word so He can saturate me with truth. Here are a few biblical principles and verses to help us in our battle with entitlement.
| I deserve my habit because: |
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| I’ve had a terrible day. | Jesus told me I should expect hard days, but not to worry because He (not my habit) would help me get through them. | John 16:33 These things I (Jesus) have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage: I have overcome the world. |
| Life stinks. | If life is about God, life is good even when it stinks. | 1 Thessalonians 5:18 In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. |
| I’ve been good all week. | God’s happy about that. He wouldn’t want me to celebrate by being bad. | 1 Corinthians 6:12 All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything. |
| I work hard all day. I need a break. | On the days I work, I need to be extra careful to hold my habit with open hands because I know I’ll be tempted to give in. The more time I spend with God on those days, the better. | Romans 13:14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts. |
| Someone in my life isn’t meeting my needs. | Sometimes I need to give up my rights to love God and others well. It will be easier to do that if I depend on God to get my love needs met. Unmet needs can draw me closer to God and makes me more like Him. | Philippians 2:5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross. |
Isn’t it easy to think this: I work hard all day. I need a break…. Yes! Then, yesterday, I was thinking about my tantrums too. How easy it is for me to think “well… I want this, and I want it now, so I will have it now…. and no I’m not going to exercise because I don’t want to and I’m not going to!”… oh how easily we let ourselves throw tantrums this way instead of living a disciplined life.
So true, CJ. God is working on me with this and my to-do list. My tantrums are silent, but they’re tantrums none-the-less!
Totally get this. Up until earlier this year, shopping was my “go to” habit when I was stressed or overwhelmed or had a bad day. We then went on a spending fast, and God has really led me to a place of relying on Him more in those times than on a habit instilled in me since my childhood. I still have more bad habits to break, but this experience has led me to believe that they can be broken. On a related note, here’s a question I’ve been mulling over and thinking about. It’s a hangup I have for listening well to others, and I have to figure out how to get past it. How do we better interact with people who seem stuck in their habits with seemingly no clue that they have the habit?
That’s a tricky one. I don’t think most people like to have their bad habits pointed out to them – maybe 1 in 10 do? There’s no reason to point them out if a person either doesn’t want to change, or isn’t willing to make the effort to change. If it’s a habit that affect us in a negative way, then it’s a good (but not fun) opportunity for our own character growth – learning to love and accept others without expecting them to change or to even work on change. Not easy!
Nope, not at all easy. Requires a lot of grace, that’s for certain.
Barb,
Have you seen adults having tantrum’s in public? All I can say when I see it happen is wow! They need to grow up.
I often trick myself to indulge in a bad eating habit(Like junk food or energy drinks) after a long work week or day. Though it’s not necessary sin I still need to be a good steward of my body and health. I need make sure my craving for candy, junk food, and energy drinks are not taking control of my life.
Great principles and Bible passages.
Lisa Lampanelli on Celebrity Apprentice is an example that comes to mind when I think of adults having a tantrum. In fact, the show itself gives at least one example a week on this strange phenomenon. I’m embarrased for them because I have done it myself. I have trained myself to walk away before it happens now.
Amen to that Kari. I can’t believe she acts the way she does.
Just before she was fired this week (yeah!), she actually said, “I am in control of my emotions. I know how to use them.” She doesn’t know that she doesn’t know. But by the grace of God, there am I.
The last one is one that gets me sometimes. It’s easy to look around and focus on the negative in others. That’s something that I’ve had to combat again and again with the thought of how graceful Christ was to me.
That’s a good idea – when we think of how much grace God gives us, it’s pretty convicting if we aren’t willing to give grace to others.
John 16:33 “These things I (Jesus) have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage: I have overcome the world.” Tonight, God gave me peace. First, I trusted these words, surrendered my will, and then reached out with courage to offer it to a family member. God is good even in tribulation. Thanks Barb, Catherine
Catherine! So good to hear from you – I just wish I could see you in real life! Yes, God is good even in tribulation. If life is about God, life is good even when it’s bad. I love the verse you shared.