MMS 6-THE PRICE OF PETTINESS

1 Corinthians 13:13 NLT Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.

Hello dears, are you doing okay?

Do you feel it too or is it just me that thinks February is taking its sweet time to move along? No? Just me? Anyway, tomorrow is, as you know, a day set aside to celebrate love in all its glory. I know, I know, every day is a good day to celebrate love but hey I don’t make the holidays. If I did everyday would probably be Christmas. Back to the point. In as much as most of you are thinking about what to give and what you’re going to get tomorrow I want us to talk about one thing that I have found that quickly destroys happy and peaceful relationships- and not just the romantic ones.

Pettiness.

I’ve battled with it and you might have too. We all know what it is. That crafty, slick way of getting back at someone without making it obvious that we’re getting back at them you know? We begin to act in ways that we would deny if called out about it. We cause hurt to feel that the price of an offence is paid rather than talking openly and maturely about it. The honest and open conversations can be hard because transparency is scary, and I find them really hard, but allowing pettiness to become the response we give when offended will almost always end in an unsatisfactory victory because if we are behaving this way to someone we are dating it’s basically like shooting yourself in the foot. You’re supposed to be a team, right? Imagine bringing down your fellow teammate right before a big match? Who is going to lose?

Pettiness ends in a silent competition that becomes a huge white elephant in the room. Self-awareness (to recognize when you’re offended or hurt) and self-restraint (to choose communication over what you really want to do) are everything we need to build and maintain peaceful relationships. The hurts and offences pile up over time when not spoken about and these become weapons we wield later in arguments to make a bad situation worse. Maturity is a choice and today I’m encouraging you to choose it. Your relationship is only as happy as you make it. Make it a priority okay?

 1 Corinthians 13:11 NLT When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things.

Lord Jesus I’m so grateful for the gift of love and for the people you have put in my life to love and be loved by, I pray for strength to overcome every form of pettiness and any behavior that is counter-productive to growing in love. I’m so grateful that You’re always there to help me when I call and nothing is too small for You to help me with. Help me to have the transparent conversations necessary to overcome offence lord and help me to forgive as well. Help me to wake up everyday and choose to love like You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.