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Key Bible Verse: Don't grumble about each other, my brothers and sisters, or God will judge you (James 5:9). Bonus Reading:Philippians 2:14–15

My mentor, Bill Lane, often heard me complain about the "evils" of the Chris-tian music business. Sometimes he'd correct me: "Anything you say publicly will only sound like sour grapes." Often he'd commiserate, since he'd struggled with similar attitudes in the academic world. But now he was hearing a level of bitterness that alarmed him.

We were walking in the woods around my house, going back and forth on the issues of ministry versus business—and how to maintain spiritual integrity. "Let the excellence of your work be your protest," he said. "Take the energy you're wasting with complaining and bitterness, and focus it on your craft. If you're going to protest the state of the industry, do so by making your work the best it can be."

This is a naïve notion—to combat shallowness and shoddiness with excellence in a world that rewards the former with fame. But it was this childlike naïveté that made Bill a man of God.

A painter friend lettered Bill's words on the wall of our recording studio. Every day as we hammer out melodies and lyrics, they remind us: this is where you can best spend yourselves in the battle.

—Michael Card in The Walk

My Response: A positive way I can spend myself in my battle is …

Thought to Apply: The usual fortune of complaint is to excite contempt more than pity.
—Samuel Johnson (English writer, 18th century)

Adapted from: The Walk (Neslon, 2000).

Copyright © 2002 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.

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Prayer for the Week

Dear God, help me to accept that wrongs I've suffered are Your problem, while resentments are my problem—and a sin.

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