A father was heard lecturing his son: “Our forefathers did without sugar until the 13^th century, without coal fires until the 14^th century, without the printing press until the 15^th century, without an English translation of the Bible until the 16^th century, without coffee until the 17^th century, without public schools until the 19^th century, and without computers until the 20^th century.  Now what was that you were complaining about?”

We are good at excusing ourselves for complaining by calling it by some other name. The Bible uses synonyms for complaining, such as “clamoring and murmuring.”  As believers we are warned of the consequences that result from complaining.  However, there are legitimate times and methods for complaining.  Are your complaining habits biblical or sinful?

Someone has suggested keeping in mind when we feel like complaining that 50% of our listeners are not interested and the other 50% are glad we finally are getting what we deserve.

Paul the Apostle taught the believers in his day: “Neither murmur you as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.  Do all things without murmurings and disputings: that you may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation.”

If there ever was a person who seemed to have legitimate reasons to complain it was Joseph, the dreamer boy, in the Old Testament.  As you are aware, Joseph learned to look at his life from God’s perspective and instead of complaining, he found many reasons to praise God for His workings in his life.  We have two great character courses available on the life of Joseph. If you enjoy biographies and the learning of helpful Christian principles from the lives of Bible heroes, you will definitely enjoy one or both of these courses: 40700, Joseph, taught by Stanley Toussaint and 41200, The Life Of Joseph,  taught by Dr. Theodore Epp.

The following praise was recently given by one of our Bible Institute students. “I am enjoying these studies more than anyone would believe. I thought I was a fairly knowledgeable Christian, WRONG!”  Please let us hear from you as to what God is doing in your life as a result of your BI studies, and tell a friend today what BBNBI has meant to you.  Encourage someone today by sharing our BI web site with them (www.bbnbi.org).