Monday: Stewardship and Instant Gratification
“And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright” (Gen. 25:34, NKJV). Esau was a rugged outdoorsman who followed his passions. When he smelled his brother’s stew, he wanted the lentils immediately, even though it was unlikely that he was dying from starvation.
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Controlled by his emotions and feelings, he allowed the pressure of the moment to overpower reasoning, and traded his birthright for some instant gratification. When he wanted his birthright back, and “though he sought it diligently with tears” (Heb. 12:17, NKJV), he did not receive it.
In contrast, we have the example of Jesus. After a 40-day fast and near starvation, Jesus was tempted by Satan three times (Matt. 4:3-10). But Jesus saw the temptations for what they were, and even in His weakened condition He did not give in to gratification. Jesus lived His entire life denying the pleasures of sin and gratification, and by so doing He showed that we could have power over sin, too. He did not trade away or lose His birthright, and He invites all to share in being joint heirs with Him (Rom. 8:17, Titus 3:7). We keep our birthright by following the example Jesus gave when tempted (1 Cor. 10:13).
The best this world can offer is to experience the here and now, because it cannot offer an experience in the hereafter. To live for yourself is the opposite of living for God.
What do the following texts teach about the potential dangers of instant gratification, even for faithful people? 2 Sam. 11:2-4, Gen. 3:6, Phil. 3:19, 1 John 2:16, Rom. 8:8.
The desire for instant gratification is symptomatic of an uncontrolled mind; it is an enemy of patience that undermines long-term goals, mocking and injuring accountability. To delay gratification is a learned principle; it is a life skill that helps us manage situations and pressures, especially the temptations that the world has to offer, such as borrowing money unwisely. This idea, however, is not popular in a world built on the indulgence of instant reward, quick fixes, and get-rich-quick schemes. Once we have experienced instant gratification, we are more likely to choose the short-term reward again, and then again, and again. . . . Stewards of the gifts God has given us must not fall into that trap.
(56)
Today's lesson does well to raise the issue and unfortunate implications of living according to instant gratification.
And it correctly identifies the role of the subconscious in being the key driver of this phenomenon. It is worth pointing out that the processing speed of the subconscious is estimated to be up to 50 times faster than that of the conscious (the part of your brain where you 'reason'). Consequently, your conscious is typically playing 'catch-up' in a temptation situation. This is why people frequently find themselves going down the same old path in giving into temptation before they realise they are that far down the path. This is not an excuse, just an informed explanation that needs to be taken into account to (a) help understand the phenomenon and (b) develop more effective counter-measures specific to the needs of the individual.
And the lesson is correct when it hilights that delayed gratification is a learned capacity (a bigger concept that a skill). But here is what is also important to be aware of: this capacity is associated with the type of environment that you grew up within. Human development is referred to as being experience-dependent. This means that if you grow up in an 'enriched' environment that was emotionally stable and secure, you will have available the necessary 'resources' to develop a healthy and mature 'character'. On the other hand, if you grew up within an emotionally volatile and unpredictable/unstable environment, your mind was fully absorbed just by trying to survive and therefore didn't have the capacity to be growing healthy abilities at that time. It is not too strong to say that such an environment is 'toxic' to healthy growth and development. Some people do appear to be an exception to this, but this finding holds up time and time again and has a huge amount of research to support its existence (If you are interested, look into the field of 'emotion regulation development').
So, why do I mention this? If you grew up within an emotionally volatile or unsettled/unpredictable environment, you may well find that the exercise of delayed gratification seems more difficult for you than perhaps the next person who was blessed to have grown up in a stable environment. That is because it is - you are having to play 'catch-up' in the development of this capacity. So, take heart and keep plugging along without comparing yourself to others (and getting discouraged). And if someone is putting you down, hopefully knowing that not everyone is in the same boat might help you take courage to keep on keeping on.
And if you happen to have grown up in a stable environment, hopefully this will help inform your compassion for those who didn't and who are having a harder time with this issue.
Yes, God helps us all grow and heal. But he works within reality and the reality is that some are unfortunately more disadvantaged than others. Hence, there is need of informed compassion.
Thank you Phil van der Klift. Your comment will help so many of us to not beat up on ourselves, but to grow in grace. I thank God for working within reality and seeing us for who we are. O what Love and mercy...
Great thought and worthy of consideration. May God help as we seek to let this mind be in us which was also in Christ Jesus
No instant pleasure can be exchanged by the pleasure of loving and being loved by the closest family. Home is where we need to build that! And if Jesus is among these ties, it can certainly be more rewardable!
What about the instant gratification of "Hunger for food," or "Thirst for water," or "Desire for sleep" ? Are these to be categorized with "Living for the flesh?"
King David's desire for Uriah's wife was a "Sinful Desire." Bathsheba was another man's wife. He did not need to satisfy that at all. Satisfying that "Sinful Desire," led him to then "Murder," Uriah the husband of that woman. There was nothing wrong with Esau's desire for the Lentil Stew of his brother Jacob. It was his falling for Jacob's "Deal" to trade his "Birthright," for the "Stew," that was Esau's downfall.
Yes, certainly Esau fell for Jacob’s bait, as Jacob, unnecessarily, set a stumbling block in Esau’s path, similarly, when Jesus had been without food for 40 days, He was literally starving, unlike Esau who said he was starving because his tummy was grumbling. Esau allowed that thought/belief to take hold of his power to reason soundly.
Jesus came to show us that it is possible, even when one is starving or in Esau’s case, believes one is going to die, to keep from choosing with one’s stomach, and instead, continue sound reasoning with ones mind, when emptied of self, and looking beyond the physical desires, sometimes even needs, to Him, Who is able and does sustain both spiritual and physical food, as He showed by Jesus response to satan’s ‘food’ temptation, that our reasoning must always be, to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God, seeking first the kingdom of God.
Pete, I believe Esau's problem was in valuing instant gratification of hunger above the spiritual birthright which would make him priest of the family.
I do not see satisfying our desire for food when we are hungry as being sinful and therefore that instant gratification of hunger to be thereby sinnful. Again, it was not Esau's hunger and need to satisfy that instantly that was a sin. It was his giving in to his brother Jacob's conniving deceptiveness that was his sin.
I'm not sure Jacob was being deceptive. It was a clear, deliberate exchange that was offered, which Esau was never compelled to agree to. The fault of Esau was that he cared not for the responsibility of the birthright and sold it willingly for a bowl of lentils because his appetite was more important to him.
As many have stated already, being hungry and wanting to eat is not a sin, it is when selling ourselves short, and denying our responsibility to God just to appease our appetite right NOW. This exhibited lack of stewardship on Esau's part. He could care less and proved it.
There are needs of the body that if not met will result in deterioration of health. Satisfying such needs may not be seen in the same light of gratification. Gratification is mainly used to suggest satisfying greed, craving or lust rather than genuine needs.
So daily we still must admit we a powerless over our addiction and gratification and our life is unmanageable. And by grace we must believe in a power greater than our self to RESTORE us to our sanity.
One of the "Fruit Of The Spirit," is temperance, Galatians 5:22. What does that mean? It means to utilize in "moderation" what is good and to abstain from anything that is not for our good. and again it is not a sin to satisfy our hunger for food even in instant gratification. But here again once that desire is satisfied we need to allow the principle of temperance to be our guide to keeping us from overeating and also to keep us from becoming gluttons, etc.
Whether instant or not, gratifying the flesh in violation of the Spirit will always place the soul in peril. We are admonished: "in all thy ways acknowledge HIM, and HE will direct thy path". A faithful steward will not depart from the way of the Lord whom he serves, while they who gratify the flesh have honored another god.
The gospel finds no success where the flesh is not crucified(see Rom 8).
Phil, in a general response: "whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish..." is a promise to even the weakest and most disadvantaged sinner who repents. The weaker the repentant sinner, the stronger is God's grace. Those raised in "darkness" usually have more hope and success than those who were privileged with great "light" while often violating it. No one is more gospel hardened than those who grew up in it's radiant light while following the flesh. Why else is Laodicea so blind to it's true state? "If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!"(Matt :23).
Our Hope remains in Christ, regardless of our advantages or disadvantages before we receive Him(John 1:12,13). (those who show no compassion for the weak and oft tempted are stumbling in the dark themselves are they not?)
I would rather say "Unrestrained Gratification," rather than saying instant gratification. Because the idea of "gratifying the flesh in violation of the Spirit," is a rather vague use of words to describe the idea of living for the flesh etc. Because again, there is not sin in satisfying instantly the need for food when hungry, but yet here, if this legitimate need has no restraints it can lead to gluttony or overeating.
If not a sin, then not "against the Spirit". See Romans 8 to gain a better understanding of the difference between sinful and lawful gratification. We are given, after all, healthy appetite and God made our food very pleasant to our taste. Eating wholesome food is a joy and blessing.
While I generally agree with the concept of opting for long-term as opposed to instant gratification, straight route vs short cut to wealth etc, I also feel that today's lesson has a potential to make me believe that nothing at all comes easy in life, which I think is not entirely true. The thing is, any route I may use to reach a desired goal as long as it is a straight one, long or short, is okay for me! A genuine quick fix is not bad at all in my opinion. Actually I believe that the quicker and bigger I succeed in any endeavours, the better. This does not entirely imply being impatient, it actually may show extreme geniusness of the achiever, their ability to achieve big things withour toiling too much and too long! The word long-term has no reference period in terms of achieving desired goals in my opinion!