Tuesday, May 13, 2008

The Invasion of Complaining!

Something has invaded our house and I don't know how it got in. All of a sudden, my children have started whining and complaining about anything and everything: "my shoes are too tight, my shirt has ketchup on it, I don't like that, I don't want that, that's mine, I don't want to play with that, I don't like broccoli..." And the list goes on. Needless to say, we've been having daily conversations about how God does not like murmuring, complaining and whining (and neither does mom and dad).

Complaining is a corrupt form of conversation that causes many people a great deal of problems in their lives and it opens many doors for the enemy. Complaining and grumbling words are destructive; they destroy the joy of the one doing the complaining and can affect other people who have to listen to them! Ephesians 4:29 says, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths." Complaining and murmuring pollute our lives and probably sound like cursing to the Lord.

When I was in elementary school, one of my teachers had a "complainer container". It was a small box which sat on her desk. Anytime one of her students complained about something, we had to drop a coin in the box. At the end of the month, the money that was collected in the complainer container was donated to her local church. By the end of the year, the collected coins were fewer and fewer. We got the point!

One of the qualities I admire about my co-worker Maggie Wade is that she is a thankful person. Truly thankful people do not complain. They are too busy being grateful for the good things, they don't have time to notice the things they could complain about.

How many times have I complained about what is going on in my life? When we complain about our current situation, we remain in it. But when we praise God in the midst of difficulty, He raises us out of it. The best way to start every day is with thanksgiving and gratitude. When we do this, we get a jump start on the devil because he will definitely try fill our thoughts and conversations with evil things during our day. We can complain and remain; or praise and be raised!

3 comments:

mcsrrt said...

What a great point...I will have to try the "complain container" at my house.

You looked great yesterday, its great to see you back. Hope all is well with your sweet family...have a great day!
Melissa from Mendenhall

The Ainsworth Family said...

I am going to try to "complain container" at my house as well. My children might be a little to young for money, but maybe a favorite toy or something. Funny I read this now, my husband and I were talking about complainers today at lunch. Alison from Ridgeland

BarbC said...

When my kids were younger they went through a stage of constant bickering and complaining. We memorize Phil 2:14.. Do everything without arguing and complaining. I don't believe in beating our kids over the head with scripture, but it is certainly a vital part of parenting! I love the complain container idea. Wish we had had one of those... we could have used that money for college tuition! LOL! Barbara Campbell