Why do we grumble? Or why do we feel sorry for ourselves (which is much the same thing)? I think grumbling comes from a feeling that “I deserve better than this.” In other words, it is the fruit of underlying pride in our hearts. We feel that we are not being treated as we deserve – by God, by other people – and we show our displeasure in grumbling or self-pity. At least that’s how I respond!
What is remarkable about the apostle Paul is that he seems totally free from such grumbling or self-pity. As he writes to his friends in Philippi, he is in prison and other preachers are even taking advantage of his situation to get the better of him. Yet he responds with joy that “Christ is preached” at all (Philippians 1:17), apparently unconcerned about his reputation. And he says he has “learned the secret of being content in any and every situation” (4:12) – including imprisonment.
How does he do it? How does he respond with joy and contentment when I find it more natural to grumble and feel sorry for myself? Where does this humility, this absence of pride, come from? It can only come from his Lord, through whom he learned it. Paul tells us that Christ willingly “made himself nothing” and “humbled himself” (2:7-8). By contrast, it’s when we think highly of ourselves, and then don’t get what we feel we deserve, that grumbling begins.