Discontentment can rear its ugly head in multiple areas of our lives. If only I had a bigger house. If only my spouse would try harder. I wish our church members were different. No one understands me. I’m the only one doing all the work. When these types of thoughts take root in our hearts, the words coming out of our mouths sound more and more like complaints.
Why complain about what we don’t have? We should be content with what the Lord has given us. Why complain about someone else’s character? Everyone else can observe it as well as we can. Why complain about the state of our nation? The world hears enough of that, and we’re trying to draw others to Christ. Does complaining attract or repel? Why complain about the shortcomings of the Lord’s church? It seems like we should spend more time voicing the blessings of being in God’s family so our coworkers and neighbors will want to know more about it.
Oh, I am stepping ALL OVER my toes. So if complaining is a weakness of yours as well, here is a little list of quotes and Scriptures to print and post. May we all use our tongues to spread the grace and love of Jesus Christ in 2014.
- “Go 24 hours without complaining (not even once). Then watch how your life starts changing.” (Katrina Mayer)
- “Do ALL things without complaining or disputing” (Phil. 2:14).
- “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers” (Eph. 4:29).
- “But let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings!” (Henry Ward Beecher)
- “Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned” (James 5:9).
- “It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that makes happiness.” (Charles Haddon Spurgeon)
- “Now when the people complained, it displeased the Lord; for the Lord heard it, and His anger was aroused” (Num. 11:1).
- “Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted…nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer” (1 Cor. 10:6-11).
- “It is amazing how many occasions present themselves in which I can choose gratitude instead of a complaint. I can choose to grateful when I am criticized, even when my heart still responds in bitterness. I can choose to speak about goodness and beauty, even when my inner eye still looks for someone to accuse or something to call ugly.” (Henri J.M. Nouwen)
- “You say, ‘If I had a little more, I should be very satisfied.’ You make a mistake. If you are not content with what you have, you would not be satisfied if it were doubled.” (Charles Haddon Spurgeon)
- “Be hospitable to one another without grumbling” (1 Pet. 4:9).
- “Had we not faults of our own, we should take less pleasure in complaining of others.” (Francois Fenelon)
- “Ultimately, all our complaints are directed against God.” (Woodrow Kroll)
- “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess. 5:16-18).
Prayer for Today: May I strive to be more like Your Son who, even when oppressed and afflicted, ‘opened not His mouth.’
Complaining is a weakness, which seems justifiable in many cases. A poor sister may complain about spousal abuse, while a husband may complain of a wife’s unfaithfulness. Children may cry out about neglect or abuse.
Perhaps the key is to understand what to do to help themselves. Continual complaining does not solve anything.
Rom. 15:2 Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification.
1Cor. 14:3 But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.
1 Cor. 14:26 How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.
2 Cor. 10:8 For though I should boast somewhat more of our authority, which the Lord hath given us for edification, and not for your destruction, I should not be ashamed:
2 Cor. 13:10 Therefore I write these things being absent, lest being present I should use sharpness, according to the power which the Lord hath given me to edification, and not to destruction.