Complaining

I am not what I would call a "complainer". I've been through some pretty rough stuff in my life and have just rarely complained or whined about it. I am for the most part a very positive person. When I was growing up there was a VERY negative person in our home and honestly having lived with that for the time that I did made me very intolerant of it. I have found myself really not wanting to be around people that constantly complain about their situation. Especially when their situation is just every day life with all of it's normal ups and downs. That is something that I've really been working on lately. I don't want to judge people based on that. I need to realize that maybe it's just a maturity thing. I think we all mature spiritually in different ways at different time. Those that complain, may be more mature than me in other areas. I do have a point here. Even though I am not by nature a "complainer", there is a situation that we have been dealing with for quite some time that really has me frustrated and for a good while now, I have done a lot of complaining about it. It really is kind of a big deal, but honestly, how is complaining helping anything? Well, I got up early this morning and began flipping through my notes from church and a while back our Pastor had a lot to say about complaining. It was very relevant to my situation. In reality God has already begun working on me in this area, but I think this morning just verified all that I was feeling. I thought I would share my notes from that sermon with all of you. Keep in mind these are notes and my Pastor has a lot to say that I want to write down, so they may seem kind of choppy.


Complain-express dissatisfaction or annoyance about a state of affairs or an event.

-Dwelling on the negative simply multiplies it's effect.

-When you respond to life that's positive, when you react to life, that's negative.
Numbers 11:1-4

-Being negative causes us to be unpleasant and unwelcome to others, even the Lord. (and causes you to be ineffective)

-Phillipians 2:14? Do all things without complaining and disputing

-vs. 15 (being free from complaining makes you blameless, from disputing makes you harmless)

- If you can gripe and complain, then you can pray and intercede.

-There should not be blessings and curses from the same mouth (paraphrased from the book of James).

-Instead of always looking at how to change the situation, look at how the situation can change you.

Those are my notes as written.
I just want to add a couple of things.
-If you are constantly complaining about things, you are not showing the world the joy filled life of a Christian. The word tells us to rejoice in ALL things.
-Instead of trying to change other people or the situation you are in, ask the Lord what He has for you to learn from the situation and what He wants you to do about the situation.

Hope that helps someone else.
Be Blessed!