Complaining doesn't help

Tired of grumbling? There is a way to stop. Turn to God and see that He governs all in perfect harmony. His law, when we submit to it, replaces fuming with peace.

The first step in halting complaining is to perceive more clearly the facts of God's nature. He is supreme, divine Love. All that He creates is good. He made man in His likeness, and this man (your true identity and mine) expresses infinite goodness. Any difficulty -- lack, discord in family relations, illness -- is actually a contradiction of truth, the truth that God and man exist forever in perfect concord. As our grasp on this fact grows firmer, as we live under the law that God's total control precludes evil, grumbling will inevitably diminish.

A calm, prayerful approach to personal challenges may not be easy, but it is always possible -- and effective -- through the understanding God gives. We might have to pray faithfully to solve the problems that result in criticism and discontent, and we might have to battle character deficiencies in ourselves. But by sticking to God and living our lives increasingly in accord with His law, we will see more and more of His goodness, and harassing situations as well as the tendency always to groan about things will become less troublesome.

Often we are not aware of the griping we do. We accept it as a habit and are not conscious of the resultant evils. We need to direct our thinking and lives to God and reflect more of His ever-present goodness and divine control. This frees us from the bondage of habitual complaining, and we gain a diviner happiness.

Fretting not only brings unhappines; it also can be the source of physical ills. The materialistic, self-centered thinking that derives perverse pleasure from cherishing annoying situations and then complaining about them is a feeding ground for sick thoughts. Unless we resist the tendency to gripe, and replace anger or hatred with understanding of God's true creation, we may find ourselves facing affliction in other forms -- including physical ones.

Mary Baker Eddy n1 states, "You must control evil thoughts in the first instance or they will control you in the second." n2 We need to watch our thoughts carefully, reject the ones that seem to verify the belief that man is a mortal, inclined to sin and suffer, and more fully express in our lives those that have their source in God.A difficulty may persist until our speaking and living verify the fact that God is good and causes only good.

n1 Mrs. Eddy is the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science.

n2 Science and Health with Key to the scriptures,m p. 234.

The inclination to complain can be very substle, and clear thinking is necessary to uncover its cause and correct it. One time I had an acquaintance who fretted and fumed about almost everything. After this had continued for some time, I found to my embarrassment that I was mentally complaining -- about hism complaining! I at once realized that my true nature, as God's image, is naturally loving. And further, I sought to see my friend also as in truth God's perfect image. My criticizing ceased, and so did his grumbling in an appreciable measure.

We don't find Christ Jesus, in the Gospels, complaining or accepting the complaints of others. He lived too much of God's infinite goodness to believe that any form of evil is real and a reason for griping.When, at the pool of Bethesda, an invalid complained that there was no one to put him into the pool at the right time so he could be healed, Jesus rejected the complaint and healed him. Afterward Jesus admonished the man, "Sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee." n3

n3 John 5:14.

Merely complaining about something never helps. All it does is make the problem more formidable-looking. As we reject the mortal view of reality and turn to God for truth -- and live that truth -- grumbling fades. We find increasing freedom and happiness. DAILY BIBLE VERSE How long will thou forget me, O Lord? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me? . . . But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation. Psalms 13:1,5

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
QR Code to Complaining doesn't help
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/1981/0310/031006.html
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe