Recently I was in a room, and a lady entered complaining about me. It was nothing serious, but she was really embarrassed when she saw me. I laughed, which made her more embarrassed.
Philippians 2:14
New Living Translation
Do everything without complaining and arguing,
Complaining is bad. It damages all of your relationships. Even worse, it may make someone else fall. It’s easy to complain. Is it possible to overcome? I think so, although I am not there yet. As I have often stated before, this is my daily devotional, that I share with you. I believe in transparency. This will help you to know where I am at, and maybe in this journey help you as well.
I personally have been complaining entirely too much lately. Maybe not verbally, but mentally. In my devotions today, and almost always, I see where God knows the hearts of everyone, believers or not before they even say anything. You really don’t need to open your mouth to complain, or to be righteous. Abimilec, a ruler in Egypt took Abraham’s wife. Abraham sinned. He lied saying that Sarah was his sister because he was afraid that he would be murdered for his wife. They took Sarah, and in a dream, Abimilec said to God, my heart was clean… and this is what God responded. On a side note, it is amusing that Abraham, the patriarch of our faith, was a sinner, and the heathen was righteous.
Genesis 20:6
English Standard Version
Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that you have done this in theintegrity of your heart, and it was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her.”
Complaining or being righteous has nothing to do with what comes out of your mouth. Actually, your words are a reflection of what is going on inside of you. The fact that I complain concerns me because there is something going on inside me long before I blurt it out. For example I literally dread some phone calls. I avoid people I should embrace. When my heart is right, everything else is lovely. When it’s bad, everything is bad.
Luke 6:45
New International Version
A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.
That being said, every word counts. Sometimes I joke around too much. My heart may be right, but I just might be trying to be funny, and say something that sounds like complaining. In my feeble attempt at being funny, I may come across as condemning or critical. Remember that every word you speak has some kind of effect, good or bad. People listen. It affects their hearts. YOU are listening, and it affects YOUR OWN HEART as well.
Proverbs 18:21
New International Version
The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.
The way we speak really does matter. So it makes sense that we should avoid complaining at all cost. You can talk to build people up. You can talk to destroy. That applies to yourself as well as others. It also affects YOUR relationship with God. God loves you just the same but you avoid Him because you assume He is mad with you. He is much bigger than we are.
I think of complaining as of the enemy of our souls. When we do it, we open the door for him to come and cause trouble. On the other hand, praise and thanksgiving is of God.
It’s easy for us to condemn chronic complainers, we label them as crybabies. But when something happens to us, we say “Why is this happening to me?!”
The best thing to do is turn our sadness into Praise. We can praise God for our trials, for our hurt feelings, or financial burdens. It is always amazing for me to see how quickly God can turn things around. You pick up that phone call that you dread, and it turns into a blessing. You embrace the guy who you think is going to judge you and make you feel bad, and he turns out to be kind and encouraging. Following God is a surprise a minute.
Psalm 30:11
New International Version
You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,