By: Denny

Everybody has at least one or two. It’s that thing, action or situation that presents itself and it annoys, irritates, and bugs you every time. After having survived and retired from a 50-year truck driving career, my big pet peeve is bad drivers. With well over 2 million safe driving miles logged, I’ve seen and experienced a lot of otherwise good and intelligent people driving badly. (I wanted to say like idiots, but I won’t) I don’t know, maybe it’s a gift, or perhaps I’ve just been conditioned over time to look for and notice things others don’t. I don’t mean to be critical, but I can’t help vocalizing and calling out potential hazards or bad driving incidents when I see them as I’m driving. I think sometimes it bothers my wife, which may be one of her pet peeves, but she’s never come right out and told me, yet. She probably will now after reading this. Truthfully, if we think about it, we have many pet peeves. Those little buggers can multiply like rabbits if we let them. Some peeves grow rather quickly while others progress over time. I guess it all depends on how well and often they are fed as to how long they live. But where do they come from? After giving it much thought and contemplation, I may have discovered their source. It’s you and it’s me and they come from our desire or thinking that if everyone did things the same way we do, the world would be a better place. Seriously, stop and think about it. If everyone measured up to your standards and ways you wouldn’t have any pet peeves, would you? Therefore, the honest conclusion must be that peeves are born out of our own self-centeredness. Of course, we often soft pedal them as personal preferences which makes them a little more justifiable in our minds to own them as pets. Nevertheless, we would and sometimes do want to impose our peeves on others. We love it and can talk forever it seems when we encounter someone with the same pet peeves, because that’s what pet owners do. There are many different breeds of peeves. Some are large but the most common ones really are rather small and insignificant in the whole scheme of life, yet we spend so much time and energy coddling and fussing over them. Consider this: If you excel at doing something, do you have less tolerance for those who do the same thing only half-heartedly with shabby results and they don’t seem to care. You could be dealing with a potentially nasty little peeve. I firmly believe in doing everything well and the best you can, but be careful as pride can be an open door for a peeve to sneak in unawares. I think people who tend to be perfectionists are more susceptible to be targeted by peeves. The biggest danger or mistake we all make in dealing with peeves is the inability to separate a person from their actions. We shouldn’t allow other people to become our pet peeve. It just gets way too messy.

Does God have pet peeves? Not in the sense or terminology as we do in calling it a “pet peeve”. His big pet peeve, if I can make the analogy, is SIN. However, it goes way beyond something that annoys, irritates, or simply bugs Him. With God there are no big or small sins as He treats them all the same. He hates sin in the fact that it keeps us from His presence. Sin in its simplest definition is, “not measuring up to God’s standards of righteousness and holiness”. We all fall infinitely short of that mark, otherwise the world would be perfect and without sin as it was when God created it and us. God hates sin, but He loves people. Unlike us at times, He can separate one from the other. As it says in Isaiah 55:8-9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts higher than your thoughts.” God sent His son Jesus in the form of a man to be the perfect expression of His thoughts and ways, and to reveal His character and love to and for all mankind. As Jesus often said, “If you’ve seen, heard, and known Me; you’ve seen, heard, and known My father in Heaven.” Jesus also came to break the power of sin by freely giving Himself as the sacrifice for sin by dying on the cross in our place. He alone paid our sin debt with His own blood. He offers forgiveness, grace, mercy, and eternal life to those who by faith accept Him as their Lord and Savior. If He did all that for us, do we have the right to own sin or pet peeves against others. Maybe it is time to give them both to Jesus. It costs you nothing to surrender them, but could cost you everything to keep them. If God were to have a pet peeve it might be that after He’s done all the above and so much more, yet people continue to reject him. Don’t allow your sin or pet peeves to keep you from the opportunity to be free from them both today. All you must do is invite Him to have complete control of your life. Who knows, it may be your last chance. If you miss it, then you may end up peeved forever.