“Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world.”
Philippians 2:14-15
In other words, don’t be the Christian who is always negative and routinely complains about one thing or another or other people. Don’t be that person who likes to stir up ill-natured controversies within the body of Christ to cause divisiveness—ever met one of those people? Sure! We all have at one time or another, and perhaps, at one time, we were that person.
We quickly learn that such people often do not draw closer to God and become Christ-like. Instead, they are either in an arrested state of spiritual development or are pulling away from God, and, in the process, they tend to pull others down with them and can even cause a fellowship to divide or the church to implode.
A church I once attended years ago recently closed its doors forever. The church was established in the late 1800s and was cared for and carried forward by many generations of faithful Christians. However, controversy crept into the fellowship, people began leaving to attend other churches, and eventually, the church fell into financial peril and closed. Such things often start with a single disgruntled attitude.
For the faithful and obedient, the Holy Spirit helps us by convicting us of sin, prompting us to repent, and guiding and growing us spiritually to become more Christ-like in our daily walk. He enables us to do all things without grumbling or disputing, to be blameless and without reproach.
The problem is we sometimes prefer to be in the driver’s seat of life until the road gets bumpy and dangerous. That’s when we turn to the Holy Spirit to guide us safely back to the smooth road. Been there, done that. However, if we allow Him to always be in the driver’s seat, we can avoid those pothole-laden bumpy roads.
We can start our week with great faith, but as the world presses in on us as the days go by, doubt can creep in and weaken our faith, causing us to sink into the murk and mire of the world. That is why we must always trust the word of God and keep our focus on Jesus, lean on the Holy Spirit, and trust our heavenly Father without question so that we never lose hope and serve as lights of the world.
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is taken from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
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