I have some pet peeves I'd like to share with you.
There are so many more. So as I thought about this subject, I began to ask the question, "Why?" Why do what amounts to such petty things bother me so much? Why do they make me so irritated and sometimes, angry. Sure, there can be unloving actions on the part of the peever. But as the peeved, something is happening in my soul and it is not a good thing. Here are a few observations as I reflected on all of this.
It bothers me that these things bother me, sometimes quite a bit. I know that I fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) and so my heart is still being changed by the gospel of Christ. I am still a work in progress, and as Paul remarks in Romans 7:15: "For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate." What do you know, I still need a Savior.
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13:4-5: "Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful." Why is love "not irritable"? Because irritability assumes superiority and self-absorption. I raise myself above those who say "love on," and that is the heart of pride. When someone pricks that heart, irritability is my cough to my cold. It reveals that I am more focused on my own righteousness than caring for another. To be irritated by such things is to fail to love.
Psalm 130:3 declares: "If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?" Who could, really? I know I couldn't. I know there are plenty of things I do that irritate someone else. If they held those against me, I would be overwhelmed with correction. But far more significant, there are too many to count offenses and iniquities that I exhibit and enact against the holy and perfectly righteous God. If He were to hold those against me, I surely could not stand. And yet, in Jesus, I am free from the guilt of those iniquities.
I am peeved I have so many pet peeves. But I am so thankful that the Lord still loves me despite me. And because of His love for me, I can love others in return despite my pet peeves. I can even love on them.
- I hate the phrase "love on," as in, "We need to love on people when they are down." To me, that's the verbal equivalent of hearing metal scraping metal.
- It bothers me when people call the book of Revelation, RevelationS.
- Yes, I am a bottom of the tube squeezer.
- Toilet paper should be pulled down, not up.
- Toilet paper should be replaced after use.
- The unflushed toilet or urinal drives me mad.
- When I let someone into my lane as a courtesy, they need to give me some sort of acknowledgement.
- When my kids ask me a question that is completely obvious, I can't help but face palm (i.e. "Kids, we are going to the beach today, make sure you bring the sunblock." They reply, "Dad, why do we need the sunblock?" Ok, this is a pure hypothetical, but questions like this really happen.)
- One of my kids today was spreading jam on his toast. He digs his knife deep into the jar, messes up the whole jam, and then spreads it on his bread. The jam itself. It now has moon-like craters.
- Watching one of my kids eat cereal or anything really, without putting it away the boxes and milk.
- Unraveling rolled up dirty socks that need to go in the laundry.
There are so many more. So as I thought about this subject, I began to ask the question, "Why?" Why do what amounts to such petty things bother me so much? Why do they make me so irritated and sometimes, angry. Sure, there can be unloving actions on the part of the peever. But as the peeved, something is happening in my soul and it is not a good thing. Here are a few observations as I reflected on all of this.
- Pet peeves remind me that I am still a sinner in need of sanctification.
It bothers me that these things bother me, sometimes quite a bit. I know that I fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) and so my heart is still being changed by the gospel of Christ. I am still a work in progress, and as Paul remarks in Romans 7:15: "For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate." What do you know, I still need a Savior.
- Pet peeves remind me that I still have much to learn about love.
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13:4-5: "Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful." Why is love "not irritable"? Because irritability assumes superiority and self-absorption. I raise myself above those who say "love on," and that is the heart of pride. When someone pricks that heart, irritability is my cough to my cold. It reveals that I am more focused on my own righteousness than caring for another. To be irritated by such things is to fail to love.
- Pet peeves remind me that if the Lord marked sin against me, I could not stand.
Psalm 130:3 declares: "If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?" Who could, really? I know I couldn't. I know there are plenty of things I do that irritate someone else. If they held those against me, I would be overwhelmed with correction. But far more significant, there are too many to count offenses and iniquities that I exhibit and enact against the holy and perfectly righteous God. If He were to hold those against me, I surely could not stand. And yet, in Jesus, I am free from the guilt of those iniquities.
I am peeved I have so many pet peeves. But I am so thankful that the Lord still loves me despite me. And because of His love for me, I can love others in return despite my pet peeves. I can even love on them.