Irritating People

We all have that one person in our lives that the moment they walk into your presence just makes you grind and grit your teeth. When they speak there is just something about them that grates on your nerves like fingernails on a chalkboard. Maybe this person is your next door neighbor, maybe they are a co-worker or worse yet, and I hope I am wrong,.. maybe they are a fellow church member! The minute you see this person you start searching for the nearest exit so you don't have to listen to them, to be irritated by them. Surrounding yourself with like minded people can be awesome. The encouragement you receive and the focus you’re able to achieve can be incredible. I’m convinced that creating a circle of like-minded people should be a non-negotiable task on my to-do list and if you know me very well, you know that I love my to-do list! I hate to inform you of this but there is danger in surrounding yourself only with like minded people. People who constantly agree with you. People who never challenge you and only affirm your beliefs. It becomes very easy to simply accept that something is true because enough of the people around you say it’s true. You accept that what you believe is right, just because people around you say it’s right... But you say, the bible tells me that I am not to forsake the gathering together of like minded believers.

Hebrews 10: 24-25 ESV And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. 

Yes you are right, we are not to forsake the gathering together of believers, but in the very first part of this verse is a couple very important words, stir-up. This verse tells us that we are to stir the pot, to motivate one another to love and good works, because the Day of the Lord's return is drawing near. There is another bible verse that many people misunderstand. The bible says that iron sharpens iron and one man sharpens another.

Proverbs 27: 17 ESV Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. 

Most people think that this just means surrounding yourself with good friends makes you better. But sharpening isn't comfortable. It is friction with sparks flying everywhere. Iron doesn't sharpen iron by sitting next to you. It sharpens by clashing with you, by creating heat and irritation. If your friends never challenge you, call you out or push you to be stronger, they are not sharpening you. True Christian friendship is not about comfort. It is not about affirming your desires. It is not being a consumer of Christianity and getting all you can get. It is about forging Christians that are strong, wise and holy through real accountability. If no one ever irritates you, if no one every applies pressure to you and creates some friction, you will never be sharpened. You must be challenged in order to learn. I can tell you from my own experience that there are times that God's word, spoken to me in love by a brother or sister in Jesus Christ, can cut to the bone.

Hebrews 4:12 ESV For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 

If these words have some how irritated you then they have accomplished their purpose. Hopefully I have helped you to discern your thoughts and showed you the intentions of your heart, sharpening you into a better person!