Grumbling

One of the sevens dwarfs in the story Snow White was named Grumpy. All Grumpy did was complain. He never seemed happy, always complaining. This is sad to say but many Christians are grumpy people. When a Christian is grumpy they do not represent God very well.

The scripture says,

Philippians 2:14-15 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.

When I look at this verse it’s really simple: we are not to complain. Apparently, there was a lot of complaining and arguing going on in the Philippian church and it was setting a bad example. Paul was saying to them that they were to live in such a way that those outside Christ could not rightfully point an accusing finger at them. It was hurting their witness.

Know you are being watched by others, especially the unbeliever, so when you complain your witness of Christ is compromised. For some reason when we complain we think we find a sense of relief but it will only be temporary and it won’t be long before we are grumbling again.

Scripture tells us we will be judged for grumbling.

James 5:9 Don't grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!

God brought judgment time and time again to the Israelites because they grumbled and complained. The same will be so with us, so we must take time to listen to ourselves and see what comes out of our mouth the most the negative or the good.

So how do we overcome grumbling?

Be Thankful

Colossians 3:15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

When things aren’t going very well it is important to focus on what God has done for you and all your blessings. When you begin to do this, you realize how blessed you are and how good you really have it.

Bless Others

1 Peter 3:9 Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. 10 For, "Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech.

Our first response when someone upsets us is to respond in a wrong way. If they insult us we insult them. But the scripture says to bless them. The word “bless” conveys the meaning of “calling down by prayer a blessing on those who do us wrong and talk bad about us.” When we bless someone, we refrain from cursing them. The word "bless" here also means to speak well of, not to curse or to slander. We are to speak good things about our enemy. What if there’s nothing we can say good about them? Well, follow Thumper’s dad's advice in the movie Bambi, "If you can't say something nice, don't say nothin' at all." If that’s the case, then pray for them in a positive way! How do you pray positively? Pray for them in the way you pray for yourself and those who you love!