Losing The Need To Complain

"Do everything without complaining or arguing, 15so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe" Philippians 2:14-15

It seems like there is always something to complain about. Isn't there? You could be having the best day ever, and something will jump out that needs to be complained about. The thing is, we get into a mindset that we need to complain. Critics are highly regarded these days, whether they be movie critics, food critics, vacation critics, sports critics, etc. There is always a designated "expert" who has permission to complain and point out faults- they are focused on picking out the bad. I know I can go out to dinner with my family, and later on remember that one thing that bothered me, and that will keep me from going back there again for a long time. It's because we've been programmed to look for the bad, instead of focusing on looking at the good.

This is something that I think most of us really need to work on, because our children see when this behavior, and are only too easy to play along. This past weekend was an excellent example for us. We spent Saturday at a Renaissance Festival having a great time. The weather cooperated for the most part, and we all got to see and do things we wanted to see or do, the kids found the treasures they had been looking for, and the adults got to see a few things they wanted to see. At the end of the day though, we all decided we'd had enough and had a great time, but Abigail got sad because she didn't get to see the fairy that she'd been looking for. She'd had a fantastic time, but as we headed for the front gate, that one negative really weighed on her. And of course, she learned that behavior from us, from her parents, because sometimes we do the same thing. Someone asks about a vacation or a place we've been, and why is it we can always say something about how great a place was except for one or two little things.

So we need to work on that. Especially while, as a family, we are looking a time of transition while we look for the church God wants us at. There isn't going to be that one specific place that's perfect. Perfection is what we'll get someday when we all get to Heaven. There isn't going to be one specific congregation out there that completely meets our needs and wants, and will be without problems completely, and we need to be careful to not focus on the bad. We could have a wonderful church experience, but if we dwell on the one negative or the one fault, we could completely miss the body of believers that God would have us belong to. So we're making the choice to not focus on the negative. Instead, we are going to focus on the positive. You know those lists people make of pros and cons? There won't be any cons for us. We're going to focus on the pros and the positives, and we're going to will that outlook and attitude to carry over to other aspects of our life. We want to follow the directions as given here in Philippians, to not complain or argue.

By not complaining and consistently pointing out the bad, we are showing that we are different to those around us, and that's our goal. We want to show those around us that life is different and better with Jesus, and if the first step in that direction is to get rid of complaining, that's certainly a worthwhile step to take.