Complimentary Story
You are having a good day, enjoying what has come your way. Then suddenly a friend walks up to you who simply has a very crummy, grumbling attitude. What does that do to you? Does their attitude rub off on you? Perhaps you walk away so that the grumbling does not become infectious. Grumblers impact others. No one really wants to be around someone who is a constant grumbler. Paul gave some quite clear instructions on dealing with the attitude of grumbling. “Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.” – Philippians 2:14-15 (NLT). He told the Philippians to make sure that the tag of “grumbler” and “arguer” would not be found among them.
It is very true that there will be days when things do not go well, when no matter what we try to do or what has entered into our lives, that those things are negative. It is easy to grumble. We just do not grumble with our words. Grumbling can be the looks we give, body posture, the sighing, rolling of our eyes, or avoidance. No one likes to be around the grumbler. Grumblers are downers.
A chameleon is a lizard that can vary the color of their skin depending on its environment. They are fascinating to watch as their skin turns color as it passes by leaves turning green, and then out in the open on sand, turn brownish. People can be chameleons, too, as they allow themselves to easily or frequently change their attitudes depending on their friends’ attitudes. If the friend is grumbling, then the person begins to grumble. If the friend is happy, suddenly the person is happy.
Though you may not think you have much influence on others, you do, especially with family and friends. When something negative happens in your life, is it natural to have sadness, discouragement, disappointment and even anger? Yes. It is how you handle such situations which can lead to either being a grumbler, a very negative person or someone who rises above the circumstances, a person who is willing to deal with the issues at hand and work to have a positive attitude in negative situations.
When you turn on a flashlight or torch in a dark room, or a star shines brightly up in the dark sky, what does that single light do to the darkness? It makes the dark disappear. Paul exhorted the Philippians to live clean lives, not being grumblers and complainers, in order to shine brightly among the people they could influence. Paul did not want the Philippians to be chameleons but rather influencers in their world, being realistic with life but expressing the hope they had inside of them because of what Jesus did for them.
We do need to seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance when facing negative and difficult situations to gain the right attitude. It is vitally important to be reading the Bible, spending time praying and being around growing Christians who are positive themselves. To understand that God is in control of all things and that He knows what you are going through, that He is never going to literally leave you because you are His child, allow those truths of the nature of God to penetrate your mind. That helps with gaining perspective on life issues that are negative and also positive.
Be a star that shines brightly in the dark sky. You will make a difference!