No Whining!

Philippians 2: ¹² Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, ¹³ for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.¹⁴ Do everything without grumbling or arguing, ¹⁵ so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.”^[c] Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky
I'm sure we all know people who constantly whine about everything.  These people just wear me out and I get tired of working them.  Nothing is good enough, no one does anything right, there's never enough or there's too much and on and on.  As I've aged, I get less patient with these people, but I've learned that I can't change them.  In order to work with them, I've got to change.  Therefore, I've learned that there are a few things worth arguing about.  Inerrancy of Scripture and Christian morals and values are a couple of principles that I stand on and have become increasingly vocal about.  There are a myriad (look it up!) of things that simply have no real significance, yet result in bitter arguments, office "drama," and even church splits.  People just lack what I call strategic perspective and simply can't sort out those things of eternal significance that must be inviolate and those things that really don't matter in the grand scheme of things.  I sit in so many meetings at work, various boards, and even church and listen to endless emotional debates that really don't impact our ability to reach people for Christ or fly, fight, and win (as the Air Force says). 
When these issue come up, I try to sort out first, does this really impact my core values and does it have eternal consequences?  If not, then is it worth arguing about?  Given limited time, money, and energy, should I through my resources at this issue?  Almost always, NO!  When I make priority-based decisions based on God first, Family second, and self third, so many of life's divisive issues fall away into insignificance and I can appear blissfully ignorant.  Unfortunately, very few people share my core values and are out to get what they can as often as they can wherever they can from whomever they can.  When I retreat into my defensive, "does this really warrant my time and attention," I open myself up to be victimized and taken advantage of.  When these issues become personal to me or my family, it is much more difficult to sort out and "do everything without grumbling." 
Lord, help me to be the person focused on your kingdom, not the trivial issues of this world.  Help me to stand firm on those things that really matter to you, but avoid needless and divisive conflict.  Keep me and my family & friends from being victimized by self-centered people who would see the mission fail in order to serve their own selfish interests and ego.  Help me to be wise, courageous, and yet loving in all I do.