Baptist City Blog

Quit Your Pouting

1 Kings 20:43

"And the king of Israel went to his house heavy and displeased, and came to Samaria."

There's nothing worse than being around people who seem to pout all the time. When you are around those who pout, they annoy and wear on your emotions to the point that you don't want to be around them. The fact is pouters are people who are very selfish and filled with themselves. For instance, being around a spouse who pouts because they don't get their way can wear on a marriage. The person who constantly complains about their spouse not thinking about them can cause their spouse not to want to be around them. Children who pout cause strife inside the home. When a child pouts because they don't get their way, the other children will pick on them causing added stress to the home. Whether it's in the church, the workplace or just in society, pouters are people who you don't want to be around.

In the verse above, we find that Ahab was a pouter. Twice in the Scriptures we see that Ahab pouted when he didn't get his way; once in the verse above and then again in the next chapter. However, we find that when Ahab pouted, he was a person who let his feelings become known to everyone else. Being king of Israel should have caused him not to be someone who pouted. There's no place for leaders to pout. Likewise, there's no place for Christians to pout. Ahab had a God in Heaven who had blessed him in a tremendous way. Yet, because he didn't get everything that he wanted, like a little child he pouted in front of his wife and others. 

Do you find yourself pouting when you don't get your way? It's time that you quit your pouting and learn that God is a good God. Let me make this very clear, life is not about you. The whole reason why anyone pouts is because they seem to think that life revolves around them. Life is not about you and what you get. Life is about pleasing God and giving Him the glory in everything.

When you pout you make others around you miserable. A home that has a pouter is a miserable home. A church who has members who pout when they don't get their way is a church that is a miserable church. A staff that has a staff member who pouts when they don't get their way is a staff that is a miserable staff. Any place where you find people who pout, you find a place that is full stress which causes strife because someone didn't get their way.

The best way to quit pouting is to stop expecting anything in life. You don't need everything that you want. One of our biggest problems is we think that we deserve everything, when we really don't deserve anything. You will never stop pouting until you get to the point in your life when you don't expect anything from anybody. The only reason why you would pout is because you are selfish.

 Furthermore, if you want to quit your pouting then change your wanter. Psalm 37:4 says, "Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart." You will notice that when you delight in God, He changes your desires. The biggest reason why a person pouts is because their desires are about themselves. If you change your desires, then you'll stop thinking about yourself and you'll stop pouting.

We don't need Christians who pout, but we need Christians who rejoice in the Lord. You will never show the greatness of God to a world around you until you become a person who learns to quit pouting, accept what God has given to you, and rejoice and thank God for everything that He has brought your way. Be that Christian who changes your desires so that you never pout in your life.