¹⁷ If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. (John 13:17 CSB)

I have a shirt that I get a lot of comments on. On the front it says, “Stop Whining, Start Doing.” I think this needs to be a motto we need to take up.

There seems to be a lot of whining going on these days. It is easier to complain about a situation than to do something about it. Or there is this level of entitlement people feel that they think removes them from needing to take any action. Some one else will do it for them.

But as our scripture says, “if you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.” I think this pertains to both spiritual, faith based actions and just in the sense of doing the right thing. But we need to do these things ourselves. We need not wait for others to make good things happen. It is fully within our power, if we simply start doing.

An old phrase my father used to use comes to mind frequently. He would way, “Do you need an engraved invitation….”, meaning do you really need to be asked or told to do a thing. Do you need an invitation to act? Or are you just waiting for someone else to step in and do it?

I think we need to ask ourselves this more and more today. We have become a lazy and complacent society, expecting others to take care of that which we are fully capable.

Stop whining, start doing. You are more capable than you realize. And with God at your side you too are blessed when you do what you know is right.