By: Elizabeth Haarberg

Corrupting Through Complaining

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking this SoundCloud link.

I have been very content in this season. I do not have much to worry about or many issues to be concerned with, but I have noticed that the more content with life, the more likely I am to complain. Maybe it is God highlighting that I have always complained, but I am hyperaware right now that I am groaning about things.

“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” Ephesians 4:29 English Standard Version

What’s the prescription for complaining? Praise and thankfulness. Right before I started writing this, a stranger bought my coffee in the drive through line. I was so humbled by that little gesture; it makes me want to buy coffee for others in line. I am thankful for God’s correction in this area of my life. He has a way of showing how much he cares for me by highlighting blips in my character.

“Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,” Philippians 2:14 English Standard Version

Read the verse above again. Meditate on it. This is why I do not want to complain. I want to be blameless and innocent. There will always be a messed up world with people who think they are justified in complaining. As Christians, we are to be the light, the light that shines in praise and thankfulness.

If we have a problem, go about responding to it in the right way. Approach the person we have a problem with and provide a solution. If we cannot approach the person and there is no way to solve the issue, stop complaining and start praising and thanking God that he has the solution already provided.

Complaining is toxic to us and everyone around us. We are never justified in our complaints. Repent, thank God and do something other than complaining.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado