This is Sunday night when I am writing this and I publish every Monday. The weeks go by so quickly now that there is a 2-year-old in the house and I wasn’t sure what I was going to write about tonight. So, I did what I normally do when I’m not sure what to write about…I read some Scripture.

The verses that stuck out to me right now came from the second chapter of Philippians: “Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, ‘children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.’ Then you will shine like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain.” (Philippians 2:14-16)

Like so many other times when I go to the Bible, I found a word that I really needed to hear!! Our world, our country, our state, our cities, our churches, our workplaces, and our families, all need less grumbling and arguing. If there is one thing that people–including myself–seem to enjoy doing, it’s grumbling. ‘Misery loves company’ is how the saying goes. I have found myself chiming in with negative comments in a conversation even when that is not how I feel about someone or a situation. I just want the other person to know that I understand their gripes.

What would happen if you and I started to take the above Scripture to heart? Well, we don’t have to guess what would happen because it tells us what would happen, “…you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.”

Wow, apparently James generation was similar to ours! I would love to “shine like the stars in sky” as I hold “firmly to the word of life.”

We are called as followers of Christ to be light in the darkness. If we aren’t any different than the rest of the world then are we truly changed on the inside?

This is a difficult challenge this week–at least for me. I am going to track–as best I can–the number of times I am grumbling and argumentative this week. I have a feeling it is going to be higher than I think, unfortunately. I’m sure my wife will help me out at home keeping track! I want to take seriously these verses as I know my words are an outflow of my heart.

Will you take this challenge also?

More to come…
Jeremy