Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, ‘children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.’ Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky.
The apostle Paul showed great concern for the spiritual well being of the believers in Philippi. We see his deep affection shining forth as he spoke words of reassurance and encouragement to the congregation; exhorting them to live lives that honor the Lord in thought, word, and deed. “Do all things without complaining and disputing,” is his godly advice. He wants them to be blameless and harmless children of God, without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. As children of God, we are to become shining as lights in a dark and dismal world. We are to hold fast to the Word of life and everything we do is to be done without complaining or questioning the providence of God. This life is riddled with disappointments and disturbances and we are warned that complaining is the consequence of unbelief, while disputing is the product of a discontented heart which brings in its wake grievances, disease, envy, and sin. God, in His wisdom, knows that patient endurance, humility of heart, and a soul that trusts in the Lord, does not spring forth from a stress free life but is the development of a man or woman who has received God’s sufficient grace to face any temptation or trial which may happen along the way. Paul knew that a Christ-like character is not birthed from a bed of ease and that blameless integrity and spiritual maturity takes many long years, if not a lifetime, to fully develop. God uses the storms, sadness, disappointments, and dangers of everyday life, as well as the difficult people that cross our paths, to conform us into the likeness of Christ. Let us, therefore, resist the temptation to enter into murmurings and disputes with one another and let us trust the Lord in all things so that our lives will be a living sacrifice that becomes, to Him, a sweet fragrance and we will become blameless and pure children of God, without fault in this warped and crooked generation.
Spiritual Steve 