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"DONT WHINE, JUST SHINE." "Do all things without murmurings and disputings:That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;" (Philippians 2:14-15)Oh, how that old the flesh of ours loves to whine and complain! If someone comes along and begins complaining and griping about almost anything under the sun, we can chime right in with our own whining complaints. If someone cuts us off in traffic, there we go again. When it comes to politics, we can whine and complain with the best of them.These verses are telling us this type of behavior should not characterize followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. Whatever we do, we should do it without complaint. Then we will shine like lights in the world.Do we believe that God is ruling over all things? Will that situation before us be for our good, to build our character or to teach us endurance? Are we, as redeemed children of God laying up treasure in Heaven where we will be eternally with our loving Lord? Then why should we complain and whine or argue about things we have no control over?Every generation from Adam to this day has been crooked and twisted. Therefore, we should expect the world to be selfish and dissatisfied. That is man's fallen nature. But it should not be the nature of the new creation in Christ. Our nature should be like that of Jesus.Let me ask you, did you ever read of Jesus complaining and whining about what His Father had set before Him? His task was the most difficult of all tasks when He was made sin for us. Yet, He looked to the joy that was set before Him and endured (Hebrews 12:2).The children of God should be different from the sons of men. That doesn't mean we're perfect, it simply means we've been forgiven. The more perverse others are, the more careful we should be to keep ourselves blameless and harmless.Paul closes these 2 verses saying, "...whom ye shine as lights in the world." We should be as a lighthouse in that place where we dwell shining brightly with that sweet fragrance of our salvation when among our lost neighbors and acquaintances.Friends, may the Lord help all of us deal with our own complaining and whining. Next time any of us are tempted to whine, let's praise the Lord instead and shine for the Glory of God.