Do I Really Deserve it?
I keep hearing this phrase everywhere I look – “You deserve it!” – and honestly, it’s wearing me out. On billboards, commercials, conversations with friends – consistently the same. “You deserve that brand new car.” “You deserve to relax.” “You deserve an ice cream.” “You deserve to be happy.” STOP! Just stop! Do any of us DESERVE any of those things? I think not. What makes me any more deserving of a new car when the person down the street can’t afford one? Why do you deserve a vacation when I haven’t been able to get extended time off work this year? Why does my blog deserve to gain tons of followers when someone working just as hard at blogging is growing at a snail’s pace? I don’t deserve any of those things… And neither do you. Sorry to burst your bubble. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying those aren’t wonderful things. They are! So many of us are incredibly blessed with amazing experiences, objects, and relationships. We shouldn’t feel guilty about our blessings – we should be incredibly thankful for them! At the same time, we also should never feel as though we have these blessings because we deserve them. Think about it – are the people who don’t have what you have not deserving of it? Of course not! That’s not the way life works. Even if we work our butts off, that doesn’t mean we deserve something. I mean, really, let’s say both you and I decide to open up Etsy stores. We both toil over creating product, advertising, and promoting. Let’s say my store absolutely flops and yours takes off. Did you deserve it while I didn’t??? Of course not. That’s just the way life works. I want to challenge each of us to get out from under the mindset of deserving things. Let’s be thankful for the blessings we receive, work hard for things we want, and help others reach their goals as well. I mean, after all, that really is all that we deserve. 😉 Picture Source
33 Comments
Kara
November 6, 2013 at 1:12 pm
This post really spoke to me today and is something that has been on my heart for the a little while now. Now that I am making enough money to sustain myself and be relatively comfortable, I find that I want or "deserve" everything that I think about. Lately, I have been trying to take that money and save it, or take it to serve Him. Thanks for the great reminder!
apartment-wife.com
November 6, 2013 at 1:47 pm
what a wonderful post to start my wednesday morning — filled with so much truth and insight that it makes me consider what i have, what i want, and why. you have such a beautiful way of thinking about things 🙂
Chelsee W
November 6, 2013 at 2:25 pm
I love those quotes that are uplifting! Great way so start Wednesday off…right?
Kayla Moothart
November 6, 2013 at 2:50 pm
I love this – "Let's be thankful for the blessings we receive, work hard for things we want, and help others reach their goals as well."
Jen
November 6, 2013 at 3:43 pm
Yes!!! I absolutely love this post. 🙂 Thank you for sharing it.
Robyn B
November 6, 2013 at 4:33 pm
great thoughts! thanks for the reminder 🙂
this kind of reminds me of something someone told me once. she was talking about people that constantly say "life's not fair" and she said "you know what? they're right. life isn't fair! but….it isn't fair in our favor. what would be fair is that we would die and pay for our sins, instead of Jesus. we deserve death, but thank goodness life isn't fair!" 🙂
Jayda
November 6, 2013 at 4:35 pm
Amen! Even though I'm sometimes guilty of using the phrase, I really dislike the "you deserve it" mentality. We aren't "deserving" of any of the good things we have, they're gifts and should be accepted as such. You nailed it 🙂
Rach @ This Italian Family
November 6, 2013 at 4:44 pm
Yeeees!! I so agree with everything you wrote here! I try to really help the teen girls I mentor with this concept. Not that I'm not guilty of it sometimes too, but I think it's easier for us to see as adults than it is for teens.
Charlene Maugeri
November 6, 2013 at 4:51 pm
AMEN! You are so right. We really don't deserve anything. Everything good we have is a gift from God and has nothing to do with us.
Shannon Quigley
November 6, 2013 at 5:06 pm
I agree…we do need to move away from that "I deserve it" mentality. Let's move towards an attitude of thankfulness instead of a deserving attitude…I will admit, I have a hard time not telling myself I deserve icecream, at any given moment 🙂
Amy
November 6, 2013 at 6:09 pm
amen and amen!
Katie
November 6, 2013 at 6:23 pm
GRACE! 🙂
Midnight Cowgirl
November 6, 2013 at 6:52 pm
You make an excellent point 🙂
Rachel
November 6, 2013 at 6:59 pm
I think a lot of this "You deserve it!" rhetoric really comes from a humanist, man is inherently good, type of viewpoint, which is why as Christians we automatically suspect something isn't right. We don't automatically deserve anything. All good things are gifts from God!
Haley
November 6, 2013 at 7:12 pm
I agree and disagree.. In the nicest way, of course! I think that it's difficult to measure how much a person 'deserves' something.. There really isn't a way to measure it, and I think that's why it's hard to say that someone deserves something more than another. I know I have told a blogger that she deserved a good long weekend with her and her hubby because in my mind, from what I read.. she works two jobs, overtime all summer long and rarely gets a chance to see her hubby. I felt like she worked really hard and that it would be nice to tell her to enjoy herself, because she deserved the time off with hubs. So I think I agree that not everyone "deserves" all that they may think that they do. But I think it's okay to tell someone that they deserved something when you truly think that they do deserve it.
Was that confusing??! LOL I think I got my point out.. I tried, anyhow!!
Becky Dougherty
November 6, 2013 at 7:34 pm
What an amazing point! I think we all fall into the trap of saying that we deserve things, but you're so right! We need to be thankful for what we have and work hard for what we want! 🙂
Angela
November 6, 2013 at 7:46 pm
Amen! I think about this a lot too.
Charity
November 6, 2013 at 7:52 pm
I agree with this. Not always do we deserve things but we receive these blessings because of Unmerited favor. Thanks for sharing this eye opening post it's important to put that I deserve this mentality in check!
Stephanie @ Life, Unexpectedly
November 6, 2013 at 8:53 pm
I agree on the materialistic things. However, I believe that everyone deserves to be happy, to experience love. I know that not all people are happy, not all are surrounded by wonderful friends and family. That doesn't mean that they don't deserve it. It means that they WOULD deserve it. Thanks so much for the prompt to think about what we truly deserve (and what is just stuff).
Katrin
November 6, 2013 at 9:01 pm
Great post, Susannah!
Trish
November 6, 2013 at 9:58 pm
I agree. I think we'd all be better if we were just thankful for our blessings and didn't act like we "deserve" them
Diana
November 6, 2013 at 10:06 pm
I agree. And there are much more important things than a new, biiiiig car and such things.
Katie Cook
November 6, 2013 at 11:24 pm
Amen sister!! We have such a culture of entitlement! Thanks for sharing this!
Samantha Horseman
November 7, 2013 at 12:54 am
Great post! I completely agree and that last paragraph sums it up perfectly. Its interesting that when November rolls around everyone talks about what they are thankful for when we should be thankful ALL of the time. We are more blessed than we could ever dream.
XO Samantha
Bailey @ Becoming Bailey
November 7, 2013 at 1:44 am
Great post, Susannah! I think about this often. It reminded me that none of us deserves God's love… but He gave it to us anyways!
Angel The Alien
November 7, 2013 at 1:59 am
Totally true. When we work really hard for something, we deserve to reap the benefits… even if that doesn't happen. But sometimes blessings just fall into our laps, and we don't necessarily "deserve" them more than anyone else.. we just got lucky!
Wanda
November 7, 2013 at 2:46 am
That is such a good point. And thank goodness we don't get what we "truly" deserve.
Elsha
November 7, 2013 at 3:47 am
This is so deep 🙂 It such a bad epidemic happening with our mindset, great wake up call!
The Lady Okie
November 7, 2013 at 4:32 am
So so true!
Amy, a redeemed sheep
November 7, 2013 at 2:01 pm
The only thing I deserve is God's Wrath, but I was given His grace and mercy instead. =) Great post!
Sam M
November 7, 2013 at 9:56 pm
My husband would say AMEN to this post. He talks about this all the time. We don't really deserve anything, they're all just blessings or excuses.
Kiki
November 12, 2013 at 1:30 am
Amen! I was actually just reminding myself of this truth earlier this week. I got on this mindset that I deserved this and I deserved that—that I was entitled to certain things based on who I was/am and what I do/don't do. But you're right, we're not guaranteed or entitled to anything. We've got grace and we've also got way more blessings than we could ever imagine; we only need to take the time to find them. 🙂 Thanks for this reminder, Susannah!
Cherie Frey
May 21, 2014 at 2:06 pm
Totally needed these words today. 🙂 Especially this part: "I want to challenge each of us to get out from under the mindset of deserving things. Let's be thankful for the blessings we receive, work hard for things we want, and help others reach their goals as well." Thank you. <3
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