Without arguing?

My verse for my Bible class to memorize last week was, "Do everything without complaining or arguing so that you may be blameless and pure children of God without fault in this crooked and depraved generation so that you may shine like stars in the universe." Philippians 2:14-15

I thought it was a great two verses to learn since we had been talking about dress code at school and I had read about it in a daily devotional that is emailed to me....

You know it wasn't hard to learn, but it is hard to live out.

You know the without arguing point struck me first....I didn't realize that I wanted to argue so much until this verse kept floating in my thoughts.

And the without complaining....I complain way more than I thought I did.

I was struggling a few weeks ago with the concept of holiness...how do I live my life to follow after the Creator God, the One Who Provides, my Savior? How do I do this? I know that I should obey and these verses hit me right where I live in my everyday day in day out kind of life. They hit me at work, how I interact with people at the store, when I'm driving, at church, my list goes on and on....

But it is a matter of obedience. And it comes with hope....that I can be blameless and pure...without fault. And it comes with relationship...I'm a child of God...I should live this way! And it comes with a promise...that I will shine!

I really want to do EVERYTHING without arguing and complaining. It is an internal battle of my thought life. It deals with how I truly perceive my circumstances and it really deals with just how much I trust God.

I want to argue and complain less and love others and trust God more. Thinking on these verses and applying them will strengthen me in this regard.

God is good!

The Bible from Genesis to Revelation reveals God's purpose.

God's purpose is for relationships, redemption, and reconciliation.

We played Jed's Quest today in Bible class. It was to show redemption and our need for someone to redeem us.

Tomorrow we'll talk about how we've been blessed and how we are to be a blessing.

How can I be a blessing to those around me? How can I show God's purpose to those around me?

I've been looking up Amish bread recipes! Maybe that can be a start.

For now I'll just finish laundry so my husband can pack wonderful clean clothes for a 2 day retreat with 6th graders, grade papers so my students will know how wonderful they are doing, and try to remember to start some dough to make cinnamon rolls for my daughter, Kirsten and our house guest from Korea, Song Ju.

hmmmmmm.......