Choose Praise

I just finished a devotional by Joyce Meyer, and she totally speaks to me. Today’s verse was John 6:43, and as short as it is, it knocked me off my feet.

But Jesus answered, “Stop complaining to each other.”  (ICB)

I could just stop there, but there was so much more in her devotional.

Things like:

• complaining is “a corrupt form of conversation,”
• complaining opens the door for the enemy,
• complaining carries destruction,
• complaining is pollution,
• complaining affects those around us,
• oh, and…complaining is a SIN.

It is difficult to love others when we are complaining, and loving others is one of the big things God asks us to do. Constantly. Consistently.

I do not imagine that Jesus complained or grumbled as He washed the feet of His disciples at the Passover meal. I don’t think he complained when the bleeding woman touched His garment.  I am sure He didn’t even grumble when Mary asked Him to clean His room. Jesus set the example for us, and He lived in a world where suffering was inevitable. As do we.

I think of 2020 and how our lives have changed, and I am certain we will feel some of these changes for quite a while. The death toll is staggering. Jobs have been lost. The education of children has been disrupted. We are separated from family, and even now wonder if we will be able to spend the holidays together.  But, it is our choice as to how we will portray this time in our lives, in our history.  Will our days be filled with grumbling, or can we find a way to flip our complaints? 

It starts with me and you.

It starts with praise and thanksgiving.

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love endures forever.

-1 Chronicles 16:34

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

-Psalm 150:6

Praise and thanksgiving are powerful and require Satan to back off.

Praise and thanksgiving take the focus off of us and honor God.

Praise and thanksgiving bring us into the presence of God.

Today, I choose to praise.