I've been reading Philippians daily with one of my youth group members, and Paul has a lot to say about how to treat one another and a lot to say about joy despite circumstance.
When I scroll through social media, I see an awful lot of complaining. What's interesting is that it seems that well over half the time, the complainers are NOT the people struggling to make ends meet. Rather, many of the complainers are folks who have ALL their needs met and MANY of their wants satisfied.
Perhaps spiritual joy has a lot to do with choosing to be content and a lot less to do with what we have.
Some spiritual food for thought.
Philippians 2:14 (first part) in a few different translations - take your pick:
- NIV - "Do everything without grumbling or arguing"
- NLT - "Do everything without complaining and arguing"
- ESV - "Do all things without grumbling or disputing"
- KJV - "Do all things without murmurings and disputings"
- The Message - "Do everything readily and cheerfully - no bickering, no second guessing allowed!"
Philippians 1:27 (again, first part)
- NIV - "Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ."
- NLT - "Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ."
- ESV - "Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ"
- KJV - "Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ"
- The Message - "Meanwhile, live in such a way that you are a credit to the Message of Christ."
My church-worker heart wants me to add: I am not a cherry picker of verses - these verses sum up a reoccurring theme and therefore are worthy of being used in this manner. If you're curious about this topic, I encourage you to read all of Philippians to see what I mean.
Have you read Philippians, fully, recently? What do you think Paul is saying about joy, contentment, how we treat others, and grumbling? I'd love to hear in the comments!
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