Perceived Rights

Don't we all have them? Or at least we think we do. We perceive to have the right

• to our parking space
• to have exactly what we ordered in a restaurant--no mistakes
• to be respected in the workplace (based on our age, experience, etc.)
• to be acknowledged for our hard work
• to not have our plans changed
• to not be inconvenienced
  
• to be thanked for our services/ministry in the home and elsewhere
• the right to an easy life, within reason of course.

The reality is that's all wrong. None of these are our rights. They are "perceived" rights. They are rarely, if ever, based on object truth. They're our perception. What we want, feel, desire.

perceive - v. become aware of through the senses; regard as

rights - n. an entitlement to have or do something

When we compare this attitude of "rights" against the attitude of Christ we notice something glaringly different. Christ, very God himself, asserted no rights except to follow the will of his Father.

He did not protest death. He did not display His power or authority. He did not make demands or promises of revenge. He simply went to die giving up every right he had.

He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death,
even death on a cross.
Philippians 2:8

In light of the cross, our perceived rights are small, fruitless, and self-exalting. Let us strive to give up these "rights," surrendering our attitudes and will to Christ, hoping

"As our grasp on our perceived rights weakens, our needs fade into the background, and we become little images of Christ--consumed with the needs of others to the forgetfulness of our own."

from Practical theology for Women by Wendy Horger Alsup