By David ReayMonday 11 Jan 2021LifeWords DevotionalsDevotionsReading Time: 2 minutes
Don’t grumble about each other, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. For look—the Judge is standing at the door! (NLT)
If we look and listen hard enough, we will find plenty to complain about other people. Each of us has enough imperfections to irritate others who know us. In light of this, we need not be too harsh on ourselves if we think or utter the odd complaint about others.
But it is altogether different if we have a complaining spirit. This describes someone who has a mindset biased towards grumbling. Such a person rarely has much good to say about others. They are habitual fault finders whose attitude will always spy out what is wrong with others.
This creates a false perspective. Few people are wholly bad. Chronic grumblers fail to see any good and so therefore can’t have an honest relationship with others. They are so consumed with complaining that they probably don’t want such a relationship in any case. Darkness and negativity dominate.
That sort of mindset often springs from a wounded heart that lacks a sense of being loved. And so there is not much love to give out. The sad irony is that a complaining spirit will make it less likely for that person to be loved and appreciated. Grumpy grumblers are not pleasant company. They poison families, churches, workplaces.
All this is not just a human relationship problem. God himself is not pleased. Chronic complaining and grumpy grumbling invites his judgement because they may well indicate that the person doing those things is a stranger to his saving grace.
Blessings
David