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PROGRAM D-7924
How do we get rid of the bad habit of complaining? I’ve given you four effective ways to cure the contagious disease of complaining in your life and they’re not hard to do. You just have to remember to do them; pray about them; seek God’s help to remember not to complain; then watch the transformation in your own life when you are no longer a complainer!
Let me give you one more really good cure for complaining:
- Learn to practice the 24-hour rule.
What is the 24-hour rule, you ask? It’s simple: When you’re starting to complain and you’re getting frustrated or impatient, ask yourself this one question: What difference will this make in 24 hours? The rule is that if it won’t make a real difference in 24 hours, you are not allowed to complain about it!
I promise you, from my own life experience, that this will go a long way toward curing the complaining disease. A great majority of what you and I complain about today won’t matter at this same time tomorrow. When I began to practice this rule, I was a complainer. I was traveling a lot and I found much to complain about with late airplanes, poor customer service, and bad hotels. I complained, both verbally and in my own mind. Of course, my complaining didn’t change anything, it just made me a miserable person. I suffered from this disease of complaining but I also passed it on to others, I’m sure, because complaining is a very contagious disease.
That’s when I got smart and began to practice this 24-hour rule—and I do so to this day. I talk to myself and make myself obey the 24-hour rule: if it won’t matter in 24 hours, don’t complain about it! I challenge you to try it. I think it will work for you too.
These five cures for complaining that I’ve given you are biblically based principles that will truly help you to become a more joyful, pleasant person. Furthermore, you will be a better representative of Jesus Christ in every area of your life—most especially where you work.