Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure. (Phil. 2:14–15)
Expanded Passage: Philippians 2:12-21
I can sometimes find myself being quite a stubborn person. Let’s take a simple task like doing the dishes as an example. Most times I will not have any issue doing this of my own free will, but if someone asks me to do it, then I might feel annoyed and not want to do it. Being obstinate about something like doing the dishes might not seem that harmful. But apply the same concept to your spiritual walk and the results would be detrimental.
Holiness requires surrender. That’s not an unbelievable truth, but it’s a very important one. Paul wrote that it is God who works within us so we can act in the right way to fulfill his purposes for our lives. This is why we are to work out our salvation in the fear of the Lord. But we cannot rely on our own free will to become blameless and pure. We need to rely on the guidance of the Holy Spirit working within us because he knows what we need better than we do.
Then, instead of grumbling, we can find joy in the spiritual disciplines God calls us to. Instead of arguing, we can find joy in the fact that God grants us perseverance that brings us toward fullness in Jesus. We can take our headstrong thoughts captive and find joy in the Lord.
Replace a willful thought with a joyful one.
Ethan Zent is an ordained pastor in The Wesleyan Church, serving as a full-time missionary alongside his wife with the organization Poetice in Zambia.
© 2026 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
