From this same passage that I talked about yesterday, are some pretty practical “how to’s” to be a good shining light in this world. Most of the time, we want to think about the good that we can do to be shining lights, the activities that we can be involved in, etc. Those are good, but Philippians 2 goes to the heart of the matter again. Our attitude needs to be that of Jesus Christ: selflessness.
One verse right in the middle of all this attitude talk is “do everything without grumbling or arguing” (v. 14). This is where attitude comes alive! To be honest, I am the KING of grumbling/murmuring/complaining and arguing/giving my opinion/doubting/over questioning. Sometimes, this is called the gift of analyzing to the maximum. Really, it is sin that stems in some sinful, unholy, un-biblical, humanistic-thinking beliefs.
No longer do I try to “work out my salvation with fear and trembling” (v. 12) as though God is at work in me and the world (v. 13). I minimize God and look only at people and their shortcomings. I compare people with people and complain that this so and so will never be as good as so and so and that shouldn’t be so. I become judgmental! The bad kind! Judging in the sense of discernment is good, but this not the kind of judging that grumbling and arguing creates.
As the master of this sin, I tell you that no good will ever increase until you are able to captivate your thoughts, seek to find any truth/falseness of those thoughts with God and Scripture, look only at the “beam of wood” in your own eye, confess the sin, and begin again with the attitude of selflessness for the bigger purpose of bringing God glory to the world, strive to live in that passion, and when failure, repeat steps.
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