LOVE IS NOT EASILY PROVOKED

(1 Corinthians 13:5)

Other versions say that love is not irritable or love is not easily annoyed.

To provoke means to cause a reaction and in this case it means to cause someone to become angry. To be annoyed is to make your heart to lose peace, you feel uncomfortable and you are unable to relax. To be irritated means that you experience something that leads you to become angry as soon as possible. To be irritated is stronger than to be annoyed because when you are annoyed it is possible to avoid anger but not with irritate. But all three words will lead you to anger, they start in different ways but will finally lead you to anger.

Most of us can think of a person who annoys us. But if you are sitting here tonight and you think that this message is not for you because you know that you are a very patient person and you are not easily provoked, please don’t turn off. I remember once a person came to me and advised me on an issue in my life that I really didn’t have a problem with. And I told that person, “Don’t worry, this is an area in my life that I am really not tempted in”. This person said, maybe today you are not, but you do not know what will happen in the future and I am warning you so that when you are tempted, you will resist. And this person was correct, a few months later I was tempted and because of his warning to me, I could overcome the temptation. So if tonight you are thinking that this message is really not for you, please listen anyway because we don’t know what the future will bring to us.

Most people are not exempt from this feeling though, and I am sure everyone here has at least felt annoyed once in their life. Maybe we get annoyed because the person is lazy, or because they talk too much, or maybe they don’t talk enough, or because they speak funny, or they are too slow at doing anything, or maybe because the person complains too much, or the person is always sick. Or maybe we just find the person annoying, it’s just who they are, they are just annoying. No matter what they do, it annoys us.

But what does God say? He says that love is not easily annoyed. So next time I feel annoyed at someone I should ask myself, ‘do I love that person? Because if I love, where is my patience?’ With love you cannot become angry. If someone provokes you, with love you will understand. A situation can annoy you but if you have love you will just forgive.

To be annoyed at someone seems a very small thing. So I’m annoyed? No big deal, especially if they can’t see I’m annoyed. But are you sure that person can’t see it? Recently I’ve been experiencing what it is to have people be annoyed at you. And although these people have tried to hide it, one way or another, their hearts true intentions can be seen. Sometimes it’s a look, sometimes it’s the tone in the voice, sometimes the tone is good but it’s a small comment or even a joke and other times it comes out in anger.

I’ve seen and felt what it is like to be the cause of someone’s irritation and I can tell you that it doesn’t feel very nice. These people have tried to hide their annoyance but eventually what is in your heart will be seen by all. You can’t hide what is in your heart forever.

If you are finding a particular person annoying at this time in your life, and you believe that you are able to control your tongue and actions so no one can see, believe me, eventually it will come out. So we have to know how to deal with situations so that anger does not arise. When Jesus was annoyed, He would take a boat and go away from the situation, just as Joseph did with Potiphar’s wife (he fled her annoyance).

Sometimes satan can provoke you too, this is temptation. When you don’t have something and you have no money to buy it, envy comes and then you are annoyed because you lose your peace in your heart. You think that life is not fair, how come this person has something but you can’t have it? Don’t let that situation take you far away to lead you to get angry and to sin.

When you don’t think about love you can get angry:

In Mathew 5:22, God says very clearly what He thinks about that. “Whoever is angry with his brother without a cause, shall be in danger of the judgement”. Maybe you think your reason for being angry is a good reason. Maybe you think that person is deserving of that. But think very carefully about that. Really ask yourself if that person is at fault or whether it is just your lack of patience or tolerance.

This is very serious, God says if you are angry without a cause, you will be in danger of the judgement. It’s very serious and not something to be taken lightly. The rest of the verse says that if you call someone a fool, then you will be in danger of the fire. You might think that you have yourself under control, but if you are finding someone annoying and you don’t remove that feeling, at some point you will find anger rising up and you may reach the point to talk about the person behind their back. You might reach the point to call them a fool. This is dangerous because God warns us of the fire.

One really good way to remove that feeling in your heart is to ask yourself, “What if I were that person, could I be annoyed at myself?” For example, someone might have a truly annoying accent, but if you ask yourself, “What if it were me who had that accent, could I be annoyed then?” Of course not. Or maybe someone has a really annoying laugh and you really wish they would change that laugh. But that is the way God created that person, and maybe that person doesn’t want to laugh like that but they just can’t help it. And is it a sin? Think, “What could I do if I had that laugh?” I think the person doesn’t intentially try to annoy you.

Sometimes we can be annoyed by God or by a person who is speaking on God’s behalf. We can become angry and judge that person when all they were doing was trying to advise us.

Sometimes we annoy God and this we must also avoid. We must do our best not to annoy God or others. Try to think what you want people to do for you and what you don’t want and from there do the same for others.

So lets be careful with our lives and think seriously about them. If there is someone in your life that you find annoying or irritating, try your best to not just have self-control but to really remove that from your heart. It’s not enough to hide your feelings from that person, it’s not enough to not complain against that person, because eventually what is in your heart will come out and on that day God will not be happy and your friend will be completely hurt and all your efforts for purity will have been for nothing.

So please, if you have such thoughts in your heart, pray and ask God to help you to remove them, ask God to help you to love that person. God said the greatest commandment is love and we’ve read in 1 Cor. 13:1 that all that we do is useless for God if we don’t have love. You can pray, you can heal the sick, you can give thousands of dollars but if you don’t have love, or if you are easily annoyed, then all that you do is useless.

By Hayley Boud