Loving A Believer That Gets On Your Nerves

Every church has one. What is that? Someone who gets on your nerves. Sure he/she might be a loving person who will encourage you and pray for you, but there are times you want to strangle them.

They may not be committing a sin against you or one that warrants for church discipline, but your personalities does not mesh together. You might be an introvert while your brother/sister is an extreme extrovert or vice versa. You could also not get along because of your preferences which is really no reason to not get along with anyone.

Yes, we are united in Christ, but there is a believer that is really just annoying that you want God to give them a new job that requires them to move to another city. One of the glorious things about the church is we are surrounded by people who are not like us. I heard it said, you are not going to like Heaven because you will be with people who are not like you.

What are we to do if we have a believer that gets on our nerves? The Apostle Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit wrote:

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:1-3).

Two things in this passage that I want to point out. First, bear with one another. Yes, there will be times a fellow believer will say or do something you do not like. Your personality and their clash which can resort in you butting heads which is never good for the body of Christ. We are commanded to bear with one another because we are unified under the headship of Christ. Second, speaking of unity, we are to maintain unity. Notice the passage says, "maintain the unity." Believers in Christ are unified because of His finished work on the cross. We are called to main it. Since we have peace with God through Christ (Romans 5:1), we have peace with one another and we must maintain it.

Brothers and sisters, we are the body of Christ. We must bear with one another and maintain unity because we need one another. If there is a believer that is getting on your nerves, discuss amongst yourselves. If necessary, grab an elder and explain what is going on. I am sure he will appreciate that you want to work things out with a fellow believer.