"Do ALL things without complaining or disputing." - Philippians 2:14
I taught on those words last night in addition to quite a few others in Philippians 2. These were by far the easiest to understand (compared to human responsibility & God's sovereignty in vs. 12-13), but definitely some of the most challenging to put into practice.
Whenever I preach something, I get many chances to live it. Sometimes I do well with the tests that come my way, and other times, not so well. You know how it goes. Today, I was tested.
I went Christmas dress shopping.
With 5 girls.
For 4 hours.
I kept this verse in the forefront of my mind, quoting it to myself over and over throughout the day. I was determined. I certainly was not perfect. I complained a few times. But, for the most part, keeping this verse on hand rocked my world today. I realized today what a whiner I can be. Whether it's waiting for someone to get done in a store, feeling hungry, wondering when we're leaving, or any other "whine-worthy" reason, I could have whined, but (for the most part), I dodged the whining.
My take on it: I like it. It felt good to be positive and not bummed out. I should try this more often, like maybe every day?!
Have you tried fasting for a day from whining? I heard about a pastor who challenged his church to fast for a week from it. Whenever they whined, they had to contribute $1 to their "ugly jar", then turn in that money the following weekend at church. In one week, just from whining, they raised $11,000 that they gave to local charities. I guess that's good?
Stop complaining and start cooperating. It's such a better life.
You can donwload Saturday's message on Philippians 2:12-18 called "A Well-Oiled Machine" from our podcast in iTunes by clicking HERE. Hope you're blessed by it.
2 comments:
I am the WORST about complaining! Lots of kind people used to remind me about this verse...and I don't think it was coincidence! I think I'll take the challenge. It's going to be tough, but God wouldn't have said it if it weren't possible! Thanks for the encouragement, and for being honest.
Our pastor In Arkansas just issued a challenge last week for 1 month fasting from complaining. And he gave out his cell phone number for the purpose of assisting us. Yesterday he thanked us for over 1100 phone calls, many e-mails, and many texts (in 1 week)! He's not so good at keeping his blog current (that's not a complaint!), but here's our website.
http://rfalife.com/index.cfm
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