Complaining – Guard Your Heart
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14
I’ve learnt during my time working in a microbiology laboratory, the importance of cultivating bacteria in the right environment so that they can flourish. Bacteria can grow in many different environments, but they grow best on agar specifically enriched with the nutrients they need to flourish. Certain bacteria will only grow when the agar contains specific salts or other additives. Some will only grow at specific temperatures. Some flourish in the presence of oxygen, while for others, oxygen is toxic and they die when exposed to it.
Just as bacteria need the right environment to flourish, so does complaining and grumbling. Complaining doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It needs a certain environment for it to take hold in our lives. The environment, the breeding ground, is the attitude of our heart. Jeremiah 17:9 (ESV) says,
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”
Where Our Hearts Lead
Complaining starts with certain thoughts entering our minds that can lead to negative emotions becoming entrenched in our hearts. The condition of our hearts will become a rich and fertile breeding ground in which dissatisfaction will grow and thrive. This dissatisfaction will inevitably spill over into our mouths.
The words emanating from our mouths will reflect the condition of our hearts. When we harbour envy in our hearts, we will complain about the things we feel we are lacking. When pride is in our hearts, we will complain about not getting the recognition for something we think we should. Anger will cause us to complain about how things are not going our way and that we deserve better. These and other negative emotions we harbour in our hearts will cause us to fall into this trap of complaining and grumbling. Proverbs 4:23 (NLT) says,
“Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.”
The emotions we allow to thrive in our hearts will determine the direction our lives take. Our emotions can either take us down a road of complaining that leads nowhere. Or we can allow Holy Spirit to create the environment in our hearts where His fruit can flourish. The fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-24). The fruit that takes us down a road that leads to an abundant life. The abundant life that Satan wants to steal from us when we complain and grumble (John 10:10).
Grumbling and disputing are not just bad habits; they are an expression of a heart that has forgotten God’s grace and is demanding its own way. Paul David Tripp
Reflection: Will you examine your heart to see whether any negative emotions are causing you to fall into the trap of complaining and grumbling?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, You see the things that are in my heart that are causing me to complain and grumble. Help me to guard my heart. Help me to allow Your Holy Spirit to guide me so that I allow my heart to become fertile ground for Your fruit to grow. Let the words of my mouth be acceptable to You. In Jesus’ name, amen.
