Brett Gandy
on February 7, 2024
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"Cant’ complain!" I hear this phrase almost everyday, saying it quite often as well. Nobody likes to hear another person complaining, and when things are going well it is easy to oblige with the desires in this verse. Things are not always so easy though.
I remember taking a bicycle ride not too long ago. I started off feeling great: weather was nice, my bike and body were feeling good, and I would certainly say that I couldn’t complain. Fast forward an hour or so, and I had a flat tire with no way to repair it, no money, it had started to rain, and I remember biking back on my flat tire and even the slightest breeze in my face seemed like something I could write a book of complaints about. This is why Paul wants to emphasize the importance of keeping quiet rather than complaints in his letter to the Philippians.
Let’s be honest here: it is basically impossible to live our lives "without murmurings and disputings." Paul never had to wait on hold with customer service or had a flight delayed! But this is why Paul’s teaching is so important. Having this verse in your mind when you DO complain will work to ease any future complaints and eventually, hopefully, lead to less and less and possibly even no murmurings and disputings. Paul himself had some things he certainly could have complained about and possibly did, seeing as he was arrested and persecuted for his faith. No good comes from it. He realized it, I realize it, and I am sure that you do too. Keep this verse in your mind and it will only serve to improve your life and all the lives around you.
Several things happen when we complain, none of them positive. First, we focus our own mental power on something negative, something that has annoyed or bothered us. Second, we drag another person down by making them listen to our complaints. Third, complaints rarely offer a solution to the situation with which we had a problem. Usually they are just a reiteration of an event that caused us some discomfort. Lastly and most importantly, we forget to cherish every moment of our life, a great gift that all of us do not deserve but have been given. This is the most egregious of errors and one that meditating on this verse can certainly aid us with.
There are figures in the Bible that complain, certainly. I would argue that all of them, Job, King David, Moses, realize that their complaints were incorrect. They ask forgiveness almost immediately upon complaining, realizing their mistake. We should all seek to do the same. Keep this verse and meditation in your heart. Next time you are met with an inconvenience, "Can’t complain!"
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