Another resurrected post from 2013.

Let's start with a personal confession. My children sometimes call me --- with some justification --- a "moaner". If they were Australian they would use the term "whinger". They think I complain far too much abut far too many things. It's partly a function of middle-age: life's little irritations just keep on accumulating and things just ain't what they used to be.

'Tis also a reflection of personal temperament. For that I blame my half-Welsh

inheritance, but I suspect that I'm being grossly unfair on the Principality.

Whatever the excuses that I try and line up, I do catch myself moaning far too often.

It appears that I'm far from being alone.

Last weekend the Times reported on a survey taken of 2000 adults in the UK which looked at life's little annoyances. These "First World problems" are common complaints, ranked by modern Brits as being particularly annoying.

They include such plagues as:

- Earphones becoming tangled in a bag.

- The morning Weetabix not fitting into a round breakfast bowl.

- The cleaner taking a day off.

- The glare of the sun affecting the screen of our laptops.

- Needing a second family car but not having room on the driveway.

- The weather being "boiling hot" outside but "freezing in the air-conditioned office".

- Their wallet having too much money in it to close. (Really?)

- A lack of semi-skimmed milk in the local supermarket.

The newspaper article went on...

"Sometimes we forget just how good we've got it. Whilst we enjoy a lifestyle much more fortunate than some parts of the world, we still find time to moan about those more trivial problems," said a spokesman for the OnePoll website, which carried out the survey.

Quite.

After visiting rural Ghana, I vowed I would maintain high levels of gratefulness for my UK lifestyle. How quickly I forget!

For a Christian, this is a non-trivial issue.

I'm supposed to cultivate a lifestyle of thankfulness to God, founded on a real appreciation that every good gift comes from above. That's why Jesus said, when you pray, ask the Father for daily bread.

To pile on the guilt, let's read what Paul says:

And do not complain, as some of them did, and were killed by the destroying angel. I Cor 10:10

Now I don't think Paul was specifically condemning future generations of Christians who gave vent to moans that the air conditioning was turned too high. But he was using an Old Testament example of a people who, despite continual and miraculous provision from God, complained and moaned instead of enjoying life's journey in the company of the God of Israel. They missed it big time --- and Paul is desperate for us to avoid their mistakes.

Peter too has something to say on this topic.

Show hospitality to one another without complaining. 1 Peter 4:9

He is wary of the corrosive effects of complaining on relationships among Christians.

Instead of sharing what God has given us with grateful hearts, we instead carp and moan and calculate entitlement and "fairness". Peter is desperate for us to avoid this trap.

We all enjoyed laughing at Victor Meldrew (of One Foot in the Grave fame).

Perhaps you take a little pleasure too in my own discomfiture. However to live the Christian life authentically means breaking out of a complaining mindset and living with a deep sense of gratefulness for God's gifts.

By God's grace, I will.

The only common complaint in the survey that was actually justified? Stepping on something wet while wearing socks.

Are you finding more to complain about than to be glad about? Have you said "thank you" today?