Before the French revolution, a rumor circulated about the French queen, Marie Antoinette. Upon hearing that the peasants had no bread, Antoinette was supposed to have said, “Let them eat cake.”
Although Marie never actually made this statement, she lived an opulent lifestyle during a time of severe poverty. She didn't have a clue about the differences between needs and desires.
Many of us also have this “Antoinette mindset.”
For example: When we lived in Hungary I once complained about the size of my old-fashioned washing machine. Then a friend told me about her 85-year-old neighbor who washed her clothes on a washboard and had no elevator to her sixth-floor apartment.
My “Antoinette mindset” kept me from putting things in proper perspective. Instead of being grateful for what I had, I complained about what I didn't have. I didn't realize I was eating cake when others had no bread.
Do you sometimes have this problem too? If so, why not join me in asking God to give us grateful hearts so we can understand the difference between necessities and luxuries.
“Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.” 1 Timothy 6:6-7
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Bible Love Notes
If M.A. said that then it probably wasn't a cruelty, it was likely because she was so far removed and sheltered from the needs of the desperately poor people. I sometimes think that I, too, am so far removed from actual suffering that I don't have a clue what "real life" is like for impoverished people. I am in my comfy house with modern conveniences and I am more often likely to think about what I DON'T have than what I DO have. Perhaps the things that bring me ease have not been blessings, but trappings for an ungrateful heart.
ReplyDeleteTHE TRUTH THAT WE SOME TIMES FORGET IN OUR GOT TO HAVE MIND SET in this temporary world on earth when we should be think of every lasting life with the Lord.
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