You have the right, David Guizk

"God did something special when He called Abram out of Ur of the Chaldees and promised Abram all of the land of Canaan. But when Abram brought his nephew Lot with him into the land, it wasn’t long until there was conflict. (Genesis 13:8-9) Abram and Lot each had considerable herds of livestock, and their herdsmen fought over the choice grazing lands. Abram and Lot each claimed to serve the Lord God instead of the local Canaanite idols, and their conflict made them look like hypocrites. The logical solution was to separate the flocks and give them different grazing lands. But who would go where? That is when Abram exercised his right to lay down his rights.

“If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left.” God gave all the land to Abram (not to Lot), so it was pure generosity on the part of Abram that caused him to make this offer to Lot. We are almost tempted to think that it was weakness. But Abram was quite able to fight when he had to; he did not yield to Lot out of weakness but out of love and trust in God. A few acres of grazing land didn’t seem worth fighting for to this man of eternal perspective.

This giving up of our rights is theme throughout the Bible. God was glorified when Paul, out of love, waived his right to be supported by the gospel. (1 Corinthians 9:14-18) God was glorified when Jesus, out of love, waived his right to an existence that knew no human suffering or trial by experience. (Philippians 2:5-11) In fact, here Abram fulfilled the New Testament principle of love: “Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.” (Philippians 2:4)

But if we give up our rights, who will look out for us? Abram knew that whatever Lot chose, God would make sure Abram came out all right. In previous experience in the land of Egypt, Abram thought he had to take his fate into his own hands. Abram thought he had to look out for his own rights. Now being wiser, he was willing to let God look out for his interests. Right or left, it didn’t matter to Abram, because God would be there.

Because he trusted in God, Abram did not have to be obsessed with his own “rights” and neither do we. Of course there may be a time and place to stand on principle and claim a right; and sometimes doing so is good for others and not only ourselves. Yet we never forget the bigger principle: Everything else is the free gift of God, and has nothing to do with our “rights.” We can do what is right by committing our “rights” to God."

If you haven't read any of David's commentary, it is great. His writings are simple and straightforward. They are available on the Internet through the Blue Letter Bible and on www.enduringword.com