Winning and whining – we do have a choice.

John Maxwell once said, “The difference between winners and whiners is, winners, they know they have to do the right things and then they feel good; whiners, they want to feel good before they do the right thing.”

The dictionary defines a whiner: “a person who makes frequent complaints usually about little things; an irritable and complaining person.”

Whiners complain. They are negative, pessimistic, and blame others; they sniffle, grumble and grovel; they rarely look for solutions.

Winners, on the other hand, are positive, optimistic, and take responsibility for their actions; they’re positive and solution oriented.

Everyone faces challenges in life; some little and some big. So often we can’t control negative or unpleasant things that come our way, but we certainly have a choice in how we respond. It’s not the challenges, but rather, it’s how we respond to those challenges.

Our response is always our choice

The God of the Bible is Almighty; He is all-powerful! As Bible believing Christians, we can choose to respond to challenges with confidence and trust in a God Who brings solutions and deliverance! We can start by bringing to mind verses concerning His promises, like, “exceeding abundantly above all we ask or think,” or, “God is able to make all grace abound toward you.”

No, It’s Not A Magical Formula!

Those verses, and many others like them, are simply some reminders; they’re great starting points on how to direct our thinking. But we don’t just repeat verses over and over and then expect our circumstances will magically change! Reminding ourselves of what God has said and promised, helps to point our mind in the direction of looking for and expecting God’s help.

With so much evidence in the Scriptures of God’s help and assistance for many others, how can we not have confidence in Him? From unnamed people to entire nations, God has a pretty outstanding track record, wouldn’t you say? Could there be any situation or circumstance too big for Him to handle?

In addition, God’s love for us is so dynamic, the Bible says there is nothing that can separate us from His love! And, on top of that, He has even invited us into His throne room of grace to offer help in time of need.

Which Will You Choose?

The term, “whining Christian” is really an oxymoron, don’t you think? We Christians, regardless of what we face, need to remind ourselves of Who God really is and what He promised us.

When faced with difficult challenges, we can either whine, or, turn our focus to Him and choose to confidently trust Him. The choice is ours. Whining accomplishes nothing. Putting your trust in God gets you on the path of winning.

Stop whining and start winning!