Forty Days of Lent - Day #22

Happy Wednesday everyone!  I hope you are feeling encouraged as you look to the Lord today for your strength and your guidance.

Our scripture this morning comes from Phillipians

Philippians 2:12-18 

Do Everything Without Grumbling

 ¹² Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, ¹³ for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. ¹⁴ Do everything without grumbling or arguing, ¹⁵ so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.”^[a] Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky ¹⁶ as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain.¹⁷ But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. ¹⁸ So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.

This is another in your face passage of which I need to be reminded of on a daily basis.  "Do everything without grumbling or complaining"  - sounds simple but yet it is so hard.  Our sinful nature wants to complain - wants to be selfish - and sometimes the place that we complain about the most is the church!  When you are married to a pastor you see and hear how much complaining really happens.  What if for this week - we only said positives - that we focused on building up instead of tearing down.  Don't get me wrong I am not saying that constructive critisism doesn't have it's place, but I am saying that if we don't have a solution for the problem that we are complaining about - then we should keep it to ourselves!