"Do all things without murmurings and disputings."
~Phillippians 2:14
We all feel inclined to whine. For me...well, I've had a lot of big problems in my life, and I handle them just fine. But it's the small things that get to me. Such as when I'm doing something I'm enjoying and someone asks me to help them with something.
Whining is one of the bad habits we all tend to have, and it can mess up our witness big time. What do you think someone would tend to think about Christians if they see one always complaining?
Whining can be a way of trying to get out of work. It can be a way of saying that you don't want to listen to those in authority over you.
We can't always be cheerful, that's impossible on our own strength. If we develope a close relationship with God, He can help us to be cheerful. Certainly, there will be times when we get away from God, and slip back into our old habits. I've done that plenty of times in my young life thus far.
God can help us to have joy even in the worst of situations. Joy doesn't come from circumstances or things, it comes from God. The way to access that joy is to stay close to God. Listen to His will, follow His voice. God never gives us more than we can handle, and He'll carry us through our valleys if we let Him. With that in mind, we don't really have a reason to whine, do we?
The apostle Paul went through a lot worse than many of us ever will. He was jailed, ship-wrecked, and whipped, yet he remained cheerful.
And Jesus went through more suffering when he died for our sins that any of us ever will. God does not expect us to be perfect, but He does want us to follow His example. We'll all fall short of that in this life of course, but that is why Jesus died for our sins...to pay the price for them for us so that we won't have to suffer the terrible consequences.
