Wheel-kickers—we’ve probably all seen them. Ask any used car salesman about them. Wheel-kickers are a pain in the neck and a thorn in the flesh of the salesperson. They go from car to car; first they kick the front wheels, then they kick the back ones. Next they want to look under the hood and check the engine. But all they do is find fault: the wheels are rickety; the tires are no good; the engine is really bad. Wheel-kickers are on a witch-hunt looking for any fault they can find. And when they can’t find any legitimate faults, they make up some—but they never buy the car. They waste the salesman’s time and take him away from serving legitimate customers.

Wheel-kickers have a chip on their shoulder. They have a critical, mean spirit. Beneath it all they are angry people looking for a peg on which to hang their anger. They play the blame-game and never stop to look and see that they, and only they, are the cause of their negative, critical spirit. They rarely even realize who they are and what they are doing because they always justify their actions.

Wheel-kickers are not only seen in used-car lots. There are politician wheel-kickers who drive you crazy tearing down their opponents over absurd issues while ignoring and/or hiding their own self-serving motives and weaknesses. There are legalistic preacher wheel-kickers who condemn all churches but their own; parent wheel-kickers; spouse wheel-kickers; teenage wheel-kickers; business wheel-kickers; and everyday Dick and Jane wheel-kickers! Actually there are wheel-kickers in just about any field you wish to name.

Wheel-kickers are like that … when they are kicking other people’s wheels, they’re kicking the wrong person. What they need to be doing is giving themselves a swift kick in the seat of their own pants.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, if by any chance I am a wheel-kicker, please help me to see the error of my ways and, with your help, do something about overcoming my negative, critical spirit. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Ephesians 4:31-32 (NIV).