The following was a bulletin insert for the young people at Calvary Assembly on the topic of complaining. It is filed under the Creative Commons license, meaning you can take it, use it, and remix it. Just give me a thanks if you do.
…A Word from Jonathan
There is nothing better in the morning than taking a nice, long, hot shower. This morning, I woke up frustrated, as the water for my shower was cold. Not freezing cold, but cold enough to make me uncomfortable. I don’t know if it was because it was a colder night and the pipes were cold, or what the problem was, but it was an unpleasant way to start my day.
I wanted to call my landlord and tell him to get it fixed, but it seemed a bit too soon. Yes, I do pay my rent and heating bill on time every month, and I had a whole host of reasons as to why I should have hot water every morning.
As I was standing in the cold shower, attempting to wash myself quicker than normal, I thought back to the verse found in Philippians 2:14 that says, “Do everything without complaining or arguing.” To me, this seems like a ridiculous standard. Really? Everything without complaining? Think of the irony - I’m actually complaining about this being too high of a standard!
Then I thought about putting my complaint into perspective. According to a recent health care statistic, over 884 million people around the world do not have access to clean drinking water. For us, we can drink the water we bathe in. Others can’t even find safe water to drink! To think how insanely blessed we are can go a long way in helping to stop our useless complaining.
Maybe you complain about school because your teacher is treating you unfairly or you feel you are receiving too much homework. But if you flip your perspective, you can be thankful that you are getting a solid education that will provide you a variety of opportunities for your future. Maybe you complain because your parents seem like ridiculous human beings. Next time it seems this way, think of how many times you have acted irrationally and maybe this can help allow you to give some grace to your parents.
As for me, I think I’ll go downstairs and turn the water heater up a notch and leave my landlord out of it. Complaining without first trying to help the solution on our own usually doesn’t help anyone.
Thoughts?
