Is Something Annoying You?

My middle son is high energy.  As a baby he slept so much that I missed him and as he grew his personality seemed to be one of a quiet observer but then he turned 3 and the pliable, low-key baby blossomed into a confident forthright little person with an agenda to be in charge of everything and everyone.

I hadn't expected what would be exposed in me as he constantly challenged my every command. Prior to this shift I would often praise him for being so obedient.

I recall when he turned about 4 years old that I was holding my hands out as he would approach me because of his strong personality.

Well that little boy is now 13 and rapidly growing into a man.  Continually challenging me in my parenting.

Recently, I have realized that God uses him to expose my own sin.

Because he is always so feisty, lately I have been telling him to stop being annoying.  But the Lord really convicted me as I listened to this song of 1 Corinthians 13.


It has dawned on me as I meditate on this scripture, when I am annoyed I tell my son to stop being annoying but I am the one is annoyed!  I was giving myself permission to my flesh to be irritated!

And in my irritation I am really insisting on my own way!

How ugly!  I, who have the ability to shape a life have now created this thought in his head that he is annoying.  Being 13 he kind of revels in the fact that he can annoy me but I realize that what he really wants is my attention and no matter how old he is he will need my love and approval.

Just like I count on the love and delight that my heavenly Father has for my because of Christ, I look to him as example in my parenting and not just parenting but in ALL my relationships.  

I have a choice to make am I going to allow my flesh to dictate how I feel about someone or am I going to choose the path of love?

I Corinthians 13;4-8

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,
it does not rejoice at wrongdoing,
but rejoices with the truth.
Love bears all things,
believes all things,
hopes all things,
endures all things.
Love never ends.

I know God does not get irritated or annoyed with me!  He is ever patient and kind and not irritable when I sin.

Yet who am I to say I love my son when I am irritated by his behavior and let it "annoy" me and cause me to demand that he stop.  

God bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and ENDURES ALL things!

..... His love for me is neverending!  I want to be that kind of parent to my child!  I am undone!

As a result of this conviction I now am choosing to say that I am annoyed and then realize that I have a decision to make here.

Am I going to allow frustration to arise in me because of someone else's behavior or am I going to love them despite how they act?  

If truth be told this does not just effect this one relationship.  I realize that I get annoyed with my husband because he and my son have very similar personalities.  I myself was that "annoying" child.  My parents, aunts and uncles usually made that very clear.

If I am to love then I must deal with my own sinful heart and ask God to expose those things that are hindering me from loving others.

In the beginning of 1 Corinthians 13 it clearly states that in all my "doing" and gifts that I use for God are of no value UNLESS  I have love!

I Corinthians 13:13-14 NLT

Three things will last forever--faith, hope, and love --and the greatest of these is love. 
 Let love be your highest goal!...

I realize that my highest goal has been my own comfort and control!  Ultimately loving self!  UHHHHHGGGGG!  But God is not surprised!  

I cling to Philippians 3:13-14

But one thing I do:  forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.  

I want to stand before the Lord and hear Him say; 


The greatest thing that will last from my life into all eternity is my love!  That is pretty scary if you think about it!  

How do I love?  Or DO I love well?  Do I love God first and foremost so that I CAN love others?

In Luke 10:25-27 we see the importance of loving God and others;

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?  
He said to him, "What is written in the Law?  How do you read it?  And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself."

Meaning my love for God will have an effect on my mind, my strength and my soul!

Father, thank you for exposing my selfish, loveless heart and give me the grace to walk in the truth of your word.  I want to be a doer of your word and not a hearer only.  Give me a revelation of your great love toward me, a revelation of the knowledge of Christ, so that I can experience your love for me more and more and as I do that that reality would be the vine where the fruit of love grows.  


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