"Do Everything Without Complaining" Philippians 2:14

     I didn’t sleep well last night.  I was under conviction for a tweet I posted last night.  It was whiny, complaining, and did not display a thankful heart.  The tweet was, “Now I remember why I don't do Winter jam. Big mistake.”  (Winter Jam is never well organized regarding entry into the venue and there were people getting ahead of us that shouldn’t have and I expressed my disdain for that.  However, what they lack in organization in getting people in the building, they make up for a cost effective, celebration of Jesus Christ where the gospel is proclaimed faithfully. The picture is my 2 oldest boys I took to the tour.  They had a blast!) I regretted tweeting it as soon as I did it.  But once you put something out there for the world to see on Facebook, Twitter, etc. it is there for good.  I know I could have deleted it, but I knew people had already seen it and I thought it would be better to allow others to learn from my mistake.  

     The Holy Spirit has many roles in the building up of His people.  The Holy Spirit reveals truth, He gives evidence of God’s presence, He guides and directs People, He gives us assurance, and He convicts us of sin.   Conviction from the Holy Spirit is a good thing.  It can be very painful, but it is a true sign of the love of God has for His children.  If He didn’t love us, He would just let us sink in our sin.  

     Someone who has been redeemed, born again, and now has a new life in Christ has no business complaining, PERIOD.   Philippians is one of my favorite books in the Bible.  I marvel at how encouraging and empowering Paul is to the Church in Philippi all the while he is writing this letter in prison.  Paul writes, “Do EVERYTHING without COMPLAINING or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you SHINE like stars in the universe” (Philippians 2:14-15 NIV) Paul has every reason to complain because he is in jail unjustly, however his advice to the Church at Philippi is to NOT complain.  The world needs to see the church stop being so petty and not look like a bunch of spoiled little brats.  This is why I was under conviction.  I had a little twitter tantrum.  Thank God he is faithful and just to forgive when we repent (1 John 1:9). The church needs to SHINE despite any circumstance.  Paul didn’t prefer to be in prison, but he trusted God’s sovereignty and there were soldiers and prisoners at the jail that needed to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ.  

     Learn from my mistake.  Before you tweet or post on Facebook, think about your words.  Are they encouraging, and inspiring and point to Christ, or do they seem petty, complaining and unthankful? Whenever tempted to “vent” with a negative post just remember these timeless lines from Amazing Grace, “I once was lost but now am found, Was blind, but now, I see.”  We have for more to be thankful for than we do to complain about.