Complaining Tires The Soul

When all is going well, very few wish to speak about success, even when their opulence is visible. It is only the blessed and wise people, who love talking about their success and how it came about. They have probably discovered that talking about success begets more success, as everyone begins to seek their advice. They know that it is in giving that we receive, and that our heavenly Father loves a cheerful giver! Some of them anyway.

Giving in this context does not only refer to material, but in kind such as time, lending a listening ear, shoulder to cry on …. the list is endless. One just needs to be a little creative to know or realize that giving is limitless. Of course, some give with bad motives or because they expect something in return, and in this case, it can appear to be like trading, rather than giving.

Jesus seems to be hinting this:

“And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even Sinners lend to sinners expecting to be repaid in full”. – (Luke 5:34)

The rest of the chapter encourages giving and treating others well without expecting anything back from them, for then our Father in heaven will return the payment, in more than double measure! I see giving as treasure savings in our Creator's bank.

The average person, myself included, loves to complain a lot and about everything; when there is too much sun and a lot of dust and heat they pray to God to bring down the rain, and when the rain comes they say,

“God this rain is too much, or there is water everywhere", or even better in Africa we can say "God, there is mud everywhere”! If it is not about the sun or the rain, the complaint could be about the job that does not bring enough income; or it could be about family responsibilities. There is no lack of issues to complain about.

In addition, many of us tend to see mostly bad in most situations. We clamor for change believing that “The grass is greener on the other side”, but as soon as the change comes, we will see more than one negative aspect of the new situation. We then start the the complaining process all over, until it becomes our reality.

Complaints do not only affect us, but our listeners as well. But deep down, we may or may not know that life is not as bad as we are presenting, but the more other people believe and agree to what we are presenting, the more it becomes our new truth, and a basis for to live each day in misery and our performance in most or our daily chores becomes mediocre.

Constant complaining takes away our power to want to improve, because it makes situations appear worse than they really are, and a bit hopeless. It sucks our energy, diminishes our God given spirit of love, power and self control. Instead of encouraging, it destroys. Unlike successful and less complaining people, the complainers unknowingly shut their own doors of opportunities, because no one is willing to call upon them to encourage and motivate others.

We get stuck in our holes, not because we don’t have equal chances, but because we don’t want to view things in a different way. Our complaining, becomes habitual and a prophesy, and we will blame bad luck, others, or even God for not hearing and answering our prayers.

Constant complaining is easy than looking for a solution; it encourages a not so great status quo and/or, hopelessness! We should therefore unlearn complaining, because it dis-empowers and robs us of our joy and hope. Like we all know, the worst poverty is hopelessness! This article is not in any way suggesting that complaining is all bad or sin, no in fact far from that.

It suggests that for every complaint, we should come up with one or more corrective action or solution. It is good to remember that in alliance with our creator, each one of us is responsible for what we become. We may not change our past, but we can shape our future, and it is never too late!