Do everything without kvetching or arguing, so that you may be blameless and pure children of God, without defect in the midst of a twisted and perverted generation, among whom you shine like stars in the sky, as you hold on to the Word of Life. If you do this, I will be able to boast, when the Day of Messiah comes, that I did not run or toil for nothing.
~Philippians 2:14-16 (CJB)~
Well, if the wording of this translation doesn't make you take notice of this verse, I don't know what to tell you. It brought me up short. I think we like thinking of ourselves as being those shining stars of right living and sanity in a day and age that could certainly be described as "twisted and perverted" but we skip past the first part of Paul's statement. In order to really shine, we also have live joyfully and not kvetch about anything and everything. I admit I actually like kvetching. It can be really funny and a helpful release of tension to kvetch with a good friend about the silly things that annoyed me during the day. (And it's just a fun word to say!) But I need to be careful that it doesn't cross the line into grumbling and complaining and slandering others, or lead to an ongoing bitter or negative attitude. It's much more important and rewarding to be an encourager and someone who is ready to share gracious words and the hope of Messiah, and so shine like a star.
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We can so get on those Israelites for their grumbling. But boy, can we do the same. It comes out of our mouths so easily. May we hold onto the Word of Life so that what comes out of our mouths will be life-giving. Have a blessed Sunday, Kym!
ReplyDeleteThat's true - we do like to shake our heads at their kvetching without realizing how easily we do the same. And arguably with less reason too. Thanks for commenting and linking up!
DeleteThis translation brought me up short, too! It's funny how we don't think of this as a sin, or at least not a bad one. But this shows God takes it seriously.
ReplyDelete