Grumpy Cat
Over
the Christmas holidays I received a Grumpy Cat desk calendar. Grumpy Cat is a
popular internet figure celebrated for her frowny face and angry eyes. She made
her debut on the Internet in 2012. Sadly, she passed away in 2019. What made
Grumpy Cat famous was her apparent grumpy attitude paired with the word “No.”
Many find Grumpy Cat funny because she represents negative personalities in a
humorous way. We all know people like Grumpy Cat, and maybe we have
demonstrated such attitudes at one time or another.
It may be humorous
occasionally to be facetiously grumpy, but one certainly wouldn’t want to
develop a lifestyle of such behavior. First, such a lifestyle is contrary to
God’s word. The Christian’s life should be characterized by joy (Philippians
4:4) and brotherly love (Hebrews 13:1). Those two attitudes alone are enough to
dispel grumpiness. Second, grumpiness tends to push other people out of one’s
life. I suppose that one might find a fellow grump in the vein of the
misery-loves-company tradition, but eventually, that will end, and the grump
will find himself or herself alone. (It’s never good to build
relationships upon common “enemies.”)
Christians are not isolationists (Acts 2:42). Third, grumpiness isn’t wise.
Proverbs 15:13 says, “A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance, But by sorrow
of the heart the spirit is broken.” Eventually, one will become a victim of
one’s own grumpiness and become depressed.
It is worth the effort to
seek to be cheerful and not to indulge grumpiness. I suppose everyone has
grumpy moments (that’s what coffee is for), but let’s not let those moments
become a lifestyle. Rather, let’s seek to lift one another up with words of
graciousness and a cheerful disposition (Romans 12:8).
God bless you, and I love
you.
Kevin Cauley