Family
Growing up in my house was like going through a war zone. There was a lot of venting out frustrations, complaints, and just tearing each other down. My parents always argued with each other. They'd yell at us. We'd yell at each other. The cycle went on like that for most of my young life. I don’t recall ever hearing a kind word.
There were certain things I was aware of that I knew I would never do and that was name calling, because I knew what it did to me.
However, I wasn't aware of the effects it took in other areas of my life, which before long slowly surfaced while raising our children.
When our girls were little, I had pretty good control over my tongue. But from time to time I would make comments about things my husband did that I didn't agree with.
As the girls grew, I began to become more and more frustrated, finding it more difficult to control my tongue, and would eventually vent out my frustrations to my children about their faults and short-comings as well as my husband’s.
There were times when I was aware of the error of my ways, and would apologize. But before I knew it, I'd find myself doing it again.
Recently I came across a verse that I somehow overlooked, even though I had my children memorize it years ago. But this time as I had my now teenage daughter memorizing it, I too decided to memorize it with her.
As I meditated on this particular scripture something was revealed to me that helped break down the cycle of complaining and has led me into a new path of an awesome way of looking at circumstances in a new light. Not only did this revelation bring new light, it hit me hard enough to open a new door of understanding, manifesting itself to me in a way I'd never seen before.
One day my teen-age daughter was venting out her frustrations about something her father had done. I listened carefully to what she was saying, but didn't respond until the following day when she vented her frustrations again on another issue. I began to question if what she was saying was right.
I realized all those years of my pouring out complaints finally took their toll on this precious child who from childhood was the peace maker, always making every effort to make things right. She was always one to have a good outlook on life no matter what the circumstance, willing to forgive at all times no matter what happened. But now a change was taking over her.
Apparently the home I grew up in did have some effect in my life more than I was aware of. I brought that attitude of complaining into my marriage and passed that type of poison onto my children, not realizing that eventually it would affect our family like a disease. Unfortunately that's what happened to Miriam and Aaron.
In Numbers 12 Miriam, Moses' sister and Aaron his brother started to complain about Moses' position. As a result Miriam was struck with leprosy. I couldn't help but think of what it does to us when we make it a habit of complaining. Whether it's the position we're put in or the circumstances in life. When we complain, we begin to bring upon ourselves a disease that will not only affect our Christian walk, but can affect our health.
God was demonstrating to them the effects of complaining and what it does in a much quicker fashion than what we probably see today.
When we complain, a cancer or disease begins to develop and spreads not only into our lives but it teaches our children to do the same, which takes them away from God's blessings because instead of giving thanks, we're teaching them to complain possibly inflicting on them a curse.
Complaining removes from us the opportunity of seeing the good things in life. It promotes negative thoughts and blinds us from seeing the good things we should be thinking about.
Philippians 4:8 tugged at the very center of my heart. It instructs us to think of things that are lovely, pure and of good report. It also lets us know that if there's anything worthy of praise to think of such things.
By thinking of anything in that day that is worth praising, will help us to grow and teach our children to focus more on the good things in life no matter what circumstance they face. It will definitely help our children as well as us to prosper especially in this generation of negative thinking.
After discussing this issue with my daughter, I did apologize to her for teaching her to develop this wrong habit. I do all I can now to be the example to seek out praiseworthy things and focus on that instead of the trials we may face that day. It’s not easy, because since when do bad habits break through easily. But it’s something that we’re working on daily.
Whenever you’re tempted to complain about something or somebody, renew your mind by channeling your thoughts into thinking of things that are worth praising including something good you saw them do. It will not only brighten their day, but it will brighten your day when their faces light up with compliments.
PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE
Reader Count & Comments
Date
Just like you i am finding that complaining is a very selfish emotion, it can do more harm than we could ever imagine and your right , you can just as easily be uplifting. Great article !
Very true Debbie, and very good thoughts. Another response we can have instead of complaining, is to consider ways that we might be able to make the situation better. Very good message. With love, Deb
The opinions expressed by authors do not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com. This is especially true with articles that
deal with personal healthcare and prophecy. We encourage the reader to make their own decision in consultation with God, His Word, and others as needed.
This article has been read 1482 times < Previous | Next >
Read more articles by Debbie Medina or search for other articles by topic below.
This article has been read 1482 times < Previous | Next >
Search for articles on: (e.g. creation; holiness etc.)
Read more by clicking on a link:Free Reprints
Main Site Articles
Most Read Articles
Highly Acclaimed Challenge Articles.
New Release Christian Books for Free for a Simple Review.
NEW - Surprise Me With an Article - Click here for a random URL
God is Not Against You - He Came on an All Out Rescue Mission to Save You
...in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them... 2 Cor 5:19
Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Acts 13:38
LEARN & TRUST JESUS HERE
FaithWriters offers Christian reading material for Christian readers. We offer Christian articles, Christian fiction, Christian non-fiction, Christian Bible studies, Christian poems, Christian articles for sale, free use Christian articles, Christian living articles, New Covenant Christian Bible Studies, Christian magazine articles and new Christian articles. We write for Jesus about God, the Bible, salvation, prayer and the word of God.