You loaned him the spare room because he said this time was different. Again.
You gave them rent money, paid their utility bills, babysat their kids, loaned them your car. Again.
When does it end? Have you noticed that no matter how much you give, ungrateful people are never satisfied? They drain you dry and then move on to the next victim. You expend a tremendous amount of time and energy running around after them—and they’re no better for it.
Abram may have felt that way about his nephew. Every time he turned around, Lot was in trouble: “They also captured Lot—Abram’s nephew who lived in Sodom—and carried off everything he owned… Abram recovered all the goods that had been taken, and he brought back his nephew Lot… “ (Genesis 14:12,16)
We can only speculate about the reasons Abram kept bailing out his nephew, but let’s consider some of ours:
-False guilt causes us to ignore healthy boundaries with ungrateful family members.
-Over-sensitivity thinks it knows how Mollie Moocher feels, but she is not us.
-Insecurity makes a doormat out of us when we believe we NEED this person to like us. But they drain us dry and are no better for it.
When we’re mistreated by ungrateful people, it’s okay to give ourselves permission to say “No more.” Help gives someone a boost so they can fly on their own. Enabling keeps them trapped in ungratefulness.