The Mirror of the Word and other works by C.E. White can be purchased on her website, cewhitebooks.com or on Amazon

“Do all things without complaining or arguments; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding firmly the word of life, so that on the day of Christ I can take pride because I did not run in vain nor labor in vain.”

—Philippians 2:14–16

Doing all things without complaining or arguments is not the way of the world; there are many duties we would prefer not to do, both at work and at home. It’s easy to grumble and gripe, and it often feels impossible not to. So let’s look at the reasons these verses say to live this way and try to find our motivation there.

• So we can be blameless and innocent before the world. How refreshing it would be to work and live with people who do all things without grumbling? It would be hard for others to find fault with that cheerful heart.
• So we can shine the light of Christ in the darkness of a crooked and twisted world. If we live like this, people see it and wonder why. It will draw people to Christ because it’s how he lived his own life.
• So when we stand before the Lord, we can be confident we didn’t live our lives chasing things that don’t matter in the end but doing his work.

When we’re tempted to complain and argue, let’s reflect on these words instead and honor Christ with our attitude in all things. This is one way we practice prioritizing the things of the Spirit over the things of the flesh (Galatians 5:16–17).

It will ensure we have not labored in vain.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download