Key scripture -“Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, ‘children of God without fault.’” (Philippians 2:14-15a NIV).

Are you a complainer? Do you murmur and grumble about your job, your problems, your family, or the chores that you have to do around your house?

You may not know how bad you are complaining and murmuring until you start to listen to what you say to yourself and to others. I have noticed that when we have to do something that we don’t like to do or we have to do it the way someone else wants it done, we have a tendency to murmur under my breath, things like, “I don’t know why we have to do it this way or this is just a waste of time. I am always getting stuck doing this and no one appreciates the fact that I do it.”

It’s time that we stop and acknowledge that that type of behavior; grumbling, complaining and murmuring, is wrong, and admit that we need to turn from that sin.

Philippians 2:14-15a says, “Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, ‘children of God without fault.’”

We will find out that when we start doing things without complaining and grumbling, and instead do it with an attitude of gratitude, everyone around us will notice, because we will start to look and act more and more like Jesus.

In order to do this, we need to let the Lord refine and prune our attitudes. So if there is an area in your life where you harbor negativity in your heart, which causes you to grumble and complain, give it to God and allow Him to change your heart. You can start by doing this:

1. Renew your heart and mind each morning.
If you start each day by getting alone with God in His Word and praying to Him, you will quickly realize how different your attitude will be. “Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.” (Psalm 90:14).

2. Repent of the sin in your heart daily. Confess your wrong attitudes every day, otherwise, your heart will become heavy when you carry them from one day to the next. “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10)

3. Rend my heart. What you put in your mind and your heart will definitely come out, therefore, you need to make changes about what goes in. Rend means tearing away, splitting and removing. In order to rend your heart, you need to adjust what you hear and see. “‘Yet even now,’ declares the Lord, ‘return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.’ Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.” (Joel 2:12-13)

4. Rest your heart when necessary. Rest needs to be more of a priority. You need to set a bedtime and stick to it even if everything that you wanted to do is not done. “It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.” (Psalm 127:2)

So whatever you need to do today, set your heart to do it without murmuring and complaining. Instead, look for the blessings in your responsibilities. For example, if you are folding laundry, thank the Lord for clean clothes. If it means driving to work in traffic, thank Him for you car and that you can buy gas. Thank Him for your job, which allows you to be able to pay for your home and everything else.

If you start doing this, your attitude of gratitude will quickly replace the complaining, grumpy attitude in your heart. You will also be a blessing to the Lord, yourself, and others as you inspire the people around you. “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.” (Colossians 3:23, ESV)

Ask someone that you trust, to point out to you any time you start complaining, and when they do, go before The Lord in prayer and ask for His forgiveness, and for Him to give you the strength to change from a negative grumbling attitude to an attitude of gratitude.

Pray this – Our Precious Heavenly Father, I want to have a grateful heart and I want to speak words of gratitude that are pleasing to You. I want the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart to be pleasing in your sight, because You are my Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.(Psalm 19:14). Thank You that Your Word always satisfies and encourages me. I understand what the Psalmist meant when he said, “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Psalm 119:103). Father, I want the Holy Spirit to prompt me to respond to everything in a way that is pleasing to You. I want my words to always be gracious and kind because then they will be like a honeycomb, sweet to the soul, healing to the bones and pure in Your sight. (Proverbs 16:24). You have told us in Your Word that, “The Lord detests the thoughts of the wicked, but gracious words are pure in his sight.” (Proverbs 15:26). Father, I want You to keep pruning and refining my attitude so that I have a heart that is full of love and gratitude, and so that my words are gracious, loving, kind, and pure in Your sight. In Jesus’ Name, I pray, Amen