My grandma used to say that a lot.
“Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.”
You know what that means? It means you don’t complain about something that is given to you as a gift. Somehow we’ve lost this.
In today’s society many of us feel entitled. Indeed, you feel as if you are owed certain things. If someone else has a nice car, well why can’t you? It’s gone beyond coveting your neighbor’s possession. It’s grown into a feeling that you deserve their car. That it’s your right to own that car!
Too often I see complaints lodged against charitable organizations. Facilities and groups that utilize volunteers and receive no monetary compensation for their services. These charities are complained about.
You say your kids need clothes. Clothes are given. Why then would you complain about the brand?
All these clothes are from Fred’s! I’ll bet their kids’ clothes are Abercrombie and Polo!
You have no insurance and seek the care of a nonprofit clinic that offers its services for FREE. At no cost to you. Why then would you complain about the limited scope of services available?
They don’t even have a doctor to see me! It’s just some Nurse Practitioner.
Would you prefer a large bill in the mail?
You say you are hungry, that your children need food. Should you be picky?
Uhhhh, I don’t eat wheat bread. Ain’t you got some white bread?
You say you need help with your bills, but complain that the amount donated to you only covers rent and utilities. It doesn’t cover your cable and phone bill.
Why? Why is this? Why are we so certain that we deserve handouts?
Look, I’m not speaking about people in need, folks down on their luck. I can personally recall being the child of a single parent when I was younger, and I remember being broke. I remember having one package of macaroni in the cabinet and the bank account was overdrawn. Rent was late, the gas tank would have been empty if we had a car, and the power was about to be cut off. Generous folks reached out to us and gifted my mother with cash to get back on her feet.
Do you know what she did?
She cried, she said “thank you,” and once we were back on our feet she went to college and got her degree. Then she gave back.
She certainly didn’t complain. She certainly didn’t spend the money and expect it to be given a second time. I’m sure they would have given it, but she found another way. She worked with her minimal resources at hand, and above all she practiced gratitude.
Matthew 25:21
“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
How can God bless us with more when we are not thankful to Him for little?
How can we gripe and complain over volunteer services having minimal resources, or about charitable organizations not giving enough?!
How can we open our arms to receive, but do so with a closed, bitter heart?
How can we expect that we deserve the fruits of another’s labor without even a simple thank you? And it’s not that you’re expected to grovel at the givers’ feet, but God teaches us that gratitude in all things leads to blessings to overflow in our life.
How can we look a gift horse in the mouth?!
This should not be so.