Virtue

Wow, do I ever have a lot to learn! For years I have admired virtuous women who have chosen not to react to the world in a predictable way. They do not complain when they are treated with injustice and do not expect everything to go their way. They are very gentle and loving and patient. I have been asking God for Him to change me to be a woman of virtue and grace. But as I look at all my thoughts these past few weeks, the negative ones far outnumber the positives! I complain because it’s too hot, because it takes too long to travel anywhere, because I have to sleep on the floor, because I don’t understand why someone acts the way she does – because the culture is different. How else can I say it? I’m spoiled. I always thought I was different from those prissy rich girls who want and expect everything now!!! But am I really different? I’m always quick to complain. I remember when I found a verse in Proverbs in the NLT that says, “To live alone is better to live with a crabby, complaining wife.” Could that be me?? How can I be a mature Christian, never mind a missionary, if I act this way? God, forgive me. Forgive me for my selfishness and for the thoughts and actions that result. I desire to be more like you – to love to the maximum and to honestly be happy in every circumstance. Father, forgive me for considering this culture to be inferior to my own, and please help me to more than accept it – to fall in love with it. Change me, Father, to be a woman of grace and virtue.