Do All Things
Do all things...without grumbling and complaining. This is something we’ve always focused a lot on in our home. And I’m not just talking about the children.
Philippians 2:14-15 tells us,
Do everything without complaining or arguing, so 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.
If I'm reading this correctly (and I think I am) as I do all things—everything—without complaining and grumbling and arguing, I become blameless before God. I become pure before God. I am without fault and shine like a star in God's eyes.
Wow.
Who knew that registering complaints was such a big deal?
I mean, there are so many, many things we can find to complain about each day—things to complain about with our children, our husband, our house, our help, our lives.
Yet it appears that if we button up our lips, we find ourselves in the midst of the amazing blessing of being in the center of God's will for our lives.
1 Corinthians 10 tells us how serious complaining is to God as Paul describes what happened to the children of Israel.
But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not set our hearts on the evil things they did. Do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.
Interestingly, the list of offenses included such things as fornication and idolatry, along with complaining. Yikes. God puts complaining right up there with the biggies!
So we’re convinced. But to convince our kids? We need to make it a family motto, a group effort to cease all complaining. The kids need to stop with, "Why did you put so much peanut butter on my sandwich?" We need to stop with, "The electrician said he would be here between 8 am and 5 pm and I have to wait here all day. Ugh. I just can't believe this. I had so many things planned for the day."
Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:18
God's will for me! If anyone ever asks you what God's will is—here it is! So I’m to give thanks in ALL circumstances. Even thank Him for things that seem negative or bad. With Peter, I cry, "Lord! Increase my faith!"
My response should then be, "The electrician needs me to stay here all day. Thank you, Lord. You are in control and I'm going to trust that I'm supposed to be home for a reason."
Do all things.
I hope it doesn't take long for God to transform me into a grateful, thankful, uncomplaining person. I'll give Him a week. Sigh. How I wish it were that easy!
Lord, place a guard over my lips. Make me sensitive to your Holy Spirit and any attitudes of my heart that are not pleasing to you. Sanctify the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart. May my children and I have thankful hearts—hearts that are not displeased and easily annoyed. Remind me to give thanks in all circumstances. When I'm about to complain, remind me to give thanks instead. Lord, cause our walk to be blameless and pure. It's only through Your power that we can be thankful and not complain. For it is through You, and You alone, that I can overcome the desire to complain about the inconveniences or wrongs I suffer. You are able to work in me your good purposes. I surrender my tongue, my mouth, my thoughts, and my attitudes to You.
Read on for more encouragement and inspiration.
