Let complaining note be a lifestyle !

Saturday February 19, 2022

Let complaining not be a lifestyle !

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Whatever you do, do it with a good heart, as for the Lord and not for men. Colossians 3.23

Some time ago, I met a woman whom I will without hesitation qualify as "out of the ordinary" : Ariane Geiger-Hiriart. Driven by an unshakable faith, Ariane decided with her husband, Jacques, to found in 2002 an association that helps vulnerable and marginalized communities in Afghanistan.

During one of her visits to France, I met her near my family home, in Sarthe, far from Alsace where she is from. When she arrived, after she had driven for long hours, I greeted her with a banal : "You must be tired !" What was my surprise when I heard the answer : "Tired ? It's a word that I banished from my vocabulary !" This middle-aged lady, committed to her neighbor against all odds in one of the most dangerous countries in the world, would have every reason in the world to complain... and yet ! This reaction was a real life lesson for me.

Acknowledging your state of fatigue and complaining about it can sometimes help to highlight a state of imbalance in your time management, and push us to reconsider our commitments to better align them with our abilities.

However, I am sometimes tempted to comfort myself in my complaints and to make it a routine, a lifestyle because in our culture, which is based more on merit and accomplishments, it seems to me that there is a discreet but pernicious scourge : the competition of the "busiest", the "most overwhelmed", the "most tired".

The accumulation of activities becomes a pretext for lamenting and seeking somewhere respect, admiration, or even sometimes pity. Ariane refused this game, and her example leads me to think today that it is good, before embarking on a project to evaluate the expense, as Jesus invites us to do in the extract from the gospel quoted in the introduction. Not just the financial cost, but also in terms of fatigue, energy, mental load... because by becoming intentional in choosing our mission fields, we too can tend to "banish" chronic complaints from our vocabulary !

Listen the voice of God

Let's take the time to listen to God. If you tend to complain continually, seek guidance from the Holy Spirit to help you change this bad habit.

To pray is to talk to God. Share with him what you are going through. Here is an example of a prayer : "Father, sometimes I find it difficult not to complain. I ask your forgiveness for these times when I settle permanently in this bad attitude. Help me to make the right choices and to stick to it with a good heart, without complaining about the "price to pay". Amen."

Praise God

Today, what are your subjects of recognition ? Share them with the Lord !

Act today

What can you do so that complaining is no longer, or never becomes, a way of life ?

Honor the Lord

Our journey for the day ends. Let us pray together to honor our God.

"Thank you for enlightening me on this very important subject Lord. To you be the reign, the power and the glory, amen !"

Joseph Gotte

Source (The Thought of the Day)