“You Deserve Better!”: But Do You, Really?

This post is a part of my series of once weekly devotionals called Faith for Thought. Bookmark the homepage for Faith for Thought here to return to it for the weekly update on Thursday!

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Psalm 103:8-12

⁸The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
    slow to anger, abounding in love.
⁹ He will not always accuse,
    nor will he harbor his anger forever;
¹⁰ he does not treat us as our sins deserve
    or repay us according to our iniquities.
¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
    so great is his love for those who fear him;
¹² as far as the east is from the west,
    so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
Psalm 103:8-12, NIV

Devotion

Sandwiched between the marijuana billboards that have recently taken over our city, I saw a new ad go up the other day on a drive back from downtown. It reads: “You deserve better,” along with an advertisement for website that makes it “easy” and “hassle-free” to divorce your spouse.

Despite having to do a double-take to realize that this is actually a real billboard, it made me realize that perhaps that is the reason many of us are so unhappy — whether it be with our jobs, our spouses, or any other situation we’ve found ourselves in: We’ve convinced ourselves we deserve better.

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Ironically, as I’m typing this, I can hear a commercial for a cell phone company on TV that is playing in the background: “Your current plan? Not flexible. Not great at saving. You deserve better,” it says.

How have we become so convinced that we are so deserving of so many things?

We work so hard; we deserve more money. Maybe we need to look for a new job to make us happy? We do so much around the house; we deserve a husband who would fold the laundry once in a while. Maybe we need to look for a new spouse to make us happy? We are a married couple with a stable income and comfortable house; we deserve to be able to have a child. Maybe that will make us happy?

We’ve become a society who thinks we deserve better. And we’ve become Christians who think we deserve God’s forgiveness and grace — not to mention earthly blessings — too.

But the Bible tells us just the opposite: We can’t be any more undeserving of all we’ve been given. So who are you listening to: The world or the Word?

Action Steps

I’m often tempted to wonder why God isn’t giving me the earthly blessings that I rightfully deserve. The cure for this line of thinking is simple: Begin listening to the Bible. Remember Psalm 103:10: God does not treat us as our sins deserve.

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