Philippians 2:14-15 “Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.” It is easy to get into the habit of complaining. You complain when you are unhappy with people or things and feel a need to express your unhappiness to others in the form of a complaint. Maybe your complaining is without words and is in the form of a sound or a wrinkling of your face. If only things were better; if only he or she would act differently. You want others to know how miserable or unhappy you are because things are not the way they should be. Perhaps you want them to feel sorry for you or maybe solve your problems for you.
When you first became a Christian, perhaps you thought that everything was wonderful. You believed in Jesus Christ, your sins were forgiven, and you inherited eternal life. But then the reality of life sets in. Problems come. Being a Christian is not that easy. Others do not act as they should. Things are not always the way you want them to be. There is a cross that you must bear. Jesus said in Luke 9:23b “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” How are you going to respond to the problems in your life? Are you going to complain?
1 Corinthians 10:9-10 “Nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents; nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer.” Here the writer of 1 Corinthians is reminding us of the way that the Israelites acted when things got tough after leaving Egypt. Numbers 21:5-6 “And the people spoke against God and against Moses: ‘Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.’ So the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died.” God was not very tolerant of the complaining of the Israelites and He is not very happy with you when you complain today.
When Jesus lived upon this earth, did He complain? 1 Peter 2:23 “Who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously.” When Jesus suffered, He committed Himself to God. Jesus was meek. The word meekness describes the kind of spirit you have in which you accept God’s dealings with you as good, and therefore do not dispute or resist or complain. This requires you to have faith that God is in control and is working in your life for good. Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Do you really believe that all things work together for your good? Then don’t complain. As a mature believer in God, the proper response to problems is to accept them as from God and, if possible, work to resolve them without complaining.
Here are some scriptures that should help. 1 Timothy 6:6 “But godliness with contentment is great gain.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18 “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 2 Corinthians 4:8-10 “We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed — always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.”
Live your life without complaining. When you do, you will become blameless and harmless, a child of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as a light in the world. (Philippians 2:14-15)