Um, I invented Post-Its

Last week’s Bible Study centered around Philippians 2:14-15.
Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life--in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing.

Last night, we got together for our weekly recap and discussion. I feel like every week of this study has applied directly to me. Dang. I complain A LOT! I often speak before I think (or think through it enough to not get me in trouble). And more times than not, it’s something negative coming out of my mouth. This has become very evident to me in recent weeks.

I have a co-worker who likes to call me “Miss Pessimist” or various similar names. I always correct him, “I’m not a pessimist, I’m a realist.” Either way you spin it, I’m definitely a complainer.

Last night, it seemed like we spent a fair portion of the evening trying to find a loophole in the scripture.
“But what if we’re venting?”
“It’s okay if you’re not talking about someone, right?”
“What if we don’t say it to someone else?”

It definitely says “Do EVERYTHING without complaining or arguing…”
EVERYTHING?
EVERYTHING!

Somewhere along the line of the discussion last night, I came up with a brilliant idea. Every time I open my mouth and complain, I’m going to write down what it is I’m complaining about on a post-it note. Then I’m going to counterbalance it with a prayer written out at the bottom. Next week, we’ll gather with our post-it notes and be able to visually see how much we’ve complained and what we spend our time complaining about. I challenge you to follow along and do the same. I’m hoping that over the course of the week it makes us become conscious of the words that are coming out of our mouths, and in return will cause us to complain less.