Carping and Complaining

I am aware that in myself, my disposition is to be grumpy and critical. I am cursed with making judgements and often fall into the trap of voicing them. For me it appears that submission and meekness are counter cultural; nowhere in popular culture am I challenged in this or do I see theses attributes praised.
Submission and meekness are not portrayed as virtues. For the most part they are feared as the gateway to abuse and we are generally encouraged to be assertive and to stand up for our rights. And this is not wrong. Submission and meekness carry the colour of guilt; they are dark, dull and dusty. They are giving in, we feel.
We are taught this by experience but Christians are taught to obey, forgive trespasses and leave vengeance to God. We are to be meek and submissive in the way Christ was, not holding back in the face of hypocrisy to protect the poor and needy but being silent and restrained in his own defence.
We are to be counter cultural for meekness and submission are pure joy in Christ, the way of wisdom, the way of humility and they bring light into our lives. And if we do not live them, their absence brings death and darkness to our family and friends. We are called to live them for the glory of God.
You may ask why children walk away from their family faith or why their families avoid churches. I think the answer is close to home. It is the carping and complaining they associate with faith, expressed in overt and subtle ways. The back-hand slap of judgement they hear directed at the church and brothers and sisters in the faith spoken with the same mouth as God is worshipped is keenly observed. We gain a reputation for being harsh, steely eyed and self satisfied because of the way we speak of others, barely concealing our bitterness in the way we talk. And because we stand for Christ, Christ is rejected!
For Christ’s sake, be the first to bring down these walls of division. Let it start with me. What we see and observe may be true but we have no excuse to carp and complain; we need to be those who restrain themselves and close our mouths not saying what we are at liberty to say; be meek and submit to the authority of Christ who is the Lord of all.
Reading the psalms and proverbs as a discipline has helped me. You learn quickly about foolishness and the tongue and through the psalms, how to express your anxieties to God. A season of reading and praying five psalms and one proverb each day might help.