Everyone has pet peeves, little things that bother them. Here are a few of mine. Have you ever held the door open for someone, and they walk through the door and don’t say “thank you”, that bothers me. It makes me want to walk up behind them and say, “you’re welcome!” In my most holy tone of voice, of course. Here is a more present-day pet peeve. Have you been to a grocery store or any public place recently and seen someone who has a mask on their face, but it’s not on their face – it’s on their chin. Yup you guessed it, that bothers me also. Because the purpose of the mask is protecting yourself and others from infectious disease, it’s not a chin warmer. I just wanted to share a few pet peeves from my list, but I’m sure each of you have small things that irritate you. Is this normal? Sure it is. But it is also telling. It reveals your tolerance level for the imperfections of others. Are we as patient with the flaws of others as we are with our own? If we were to be fully transparent, the answer is a resounding no. The apostle Paul defined love for us in the New Testament; describing it as patient. This is true, love is patient but here’s the real question – are you?
Are we as patient with the flaws of others as we are with our own? If we were to be fully transparent, the answer is a resounding no.
I Corinthians 13:4 says, “Love is patient, love is kind…” As Christians, patience and kindness are two of the greatest indicators of our salvation. They identify us as Christ-followers and serve as evidence of His redemptive work in our lives. These character distinctions should ultimately stain our hearts. Why? Because patience and kindness are the direct offspring of love. And scripture is clear about love. It declares first that God is love and secondly we are commanded to love one another. Ironically enough, we have to love whether they say “thank you” or not. John 13:34 says, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” The key indicator that we belong to Christ is our ability to love others the way we have been loved. When we struggle with loving others or being patient with others, it’s often because we are not considering how the Lord loves us and how extremely patient He is towards us.
As Christians, patience and kindness are two of the greatest indicators of our salvation. They identify us as Christ-followers and serve as evidence of His redemptive work in our lives.
Here is the reality, people are going to wear their face mask as a chin warmer. People are not going to say thank you and appreciate you. People will do all sorts of things that irritate or bother you. But your response to them is not predicated on what they have done to you, it’s predicated on what Christ has done for you. They will know us by our love.