Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? If I am not an apostle to others, at least I am to you; for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. This is my defence to those who would examine me. Do we not have the right to our food and drink? Do we not have the right to be accompanied by a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? Who at any time pays the expenses for doing military service? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock and does not get any of its milk? (1Corinthians 9:1-7)

In The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis there is a character very attentive to "my rights," what he has earned and what he perceives is due him. After death the character visits heaven and is invited to stay.

But the man is offended by another, already in heaven, who he perceives has no right to be there... at least not on terms equal to his. Finally, out of concern for protecting his rights, the man chooses to return to hell, rather than forsake his rights. "I'm a plain man that's what I am and I got to have my rights same as anyone else, see?"

We are called - by both Jesus and Paul - not to defend our rights but to love one another. We are free. All things are lawful. But we are to choose, not so much what is our right, but what is helpful to others.