You've probably heard these verses at weddings. Chances are, you've heard them in a movie. But the commonness of these verses should never take away from their truth and their strength.
In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul discussed the diversity of gifts believers were given. Some were given the word of wisdom, some the word of knowledge, some the gift of faith, and others the gifts of healing. Some were given the working of miracles and others prophecy. Some were given a discerning of spirits and another divers kinds of tongues. Some were given the interpretation of tongues. All of these gifts worked together for the kingdom of God. They all were needed in the church--- however, the people in 1 Corinthians 12 started to let these spiritual gifts 'go to their head.' Their egos were boosting.
The 'Life in the Spirit' study Bible says, "Chapter 13 of 1 Corinthians is a continuation of Paul's discussion on the question of spiritual gifts. Here he emphasizes that the functioning of spiritual gifts without having God's love is unprofitable. The 'more excellent way' is not 'charity' instead of spiritual gifts, but rather the exercise of spiritual gifts in love. As the only context in which spiritual gifts can fulfill God's will, love must be the governing principle of all spiritual manifestations. Paul therefore exhorts the Corinthians to 'follow after charity and desire spiritual gifts." They must earnestly desire the things of the Spirit because they sincerely want to help, comfort, and bless others."
1 Corinthians 13 then starts by Paul stating that if we have the tongues of men, but have not love we are like sounding brass. If we have the gift of prophecy and all knowledge, but we have not love, we are nothing. If I give everything I have to feed the poor, but I don't have love- I'm nothing.
Love is the driving force of it all. No matter what we do in this life-- if we do it without love-- it means nothing to God.
Paul then begins to list what love IS and IS NOT. Over the next week and a half, we will be discussing the parts of 1 Corinthians 13.
1 Corinthians 13:4- Love is patient; love is kind. Love isn’t envious, doesn’t boast, brag, or strut about. There’s no arrogance in love....
Love is patient.
Patient, according to the dictionary, is described as, "Bearing provocation, annoyance, misfortune, delay, hardship, pain, etc with fortitude and calm and without complaint, anger, or the like."
Love bears annoyance, misfortune, delay, hardship, and pain.... with fortitude and calm. Without complaint or anger.
I don't know about any of you out there, but this doesn't sound like the love I sometimes emit to the people in my life.
Fruit of the Spirit.
Galatians 5:22 says, "The Holy Spirit produces a different kind of fruit: unconditional love, joy, peace, patience, kindheartedness, goodness, faithfulness..."
God has asked us to bear this fruit in our lives... And I believe 1 Corinthians reveals why. Because you can't love others without patience. It's impossible. We are all human beings and we are going to tick each other off, upset each other, frustrate each other..... we have to have patience with the people we are near.
A great quote I read once that I think is applicable in all areas of patience is this:
"Patience is not the ability to wait, but the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting." [Joyce Meyer]
I think we could also say-- Patience is not the ability to wait through annoyance, misfortune, hardship, arguments, pain, frustration.... patience is the ability to keep a good attitude through the annoyances, misfortunes, hardships, arguments, pain, and frustrations.
How many times do we snap at our children quickly-- all because of our bad attitudes?
How many times do we snap at our spouses quickly-- all because of our bad attitudes?
Imagine how many arguments we would avoid in this life if we were able to keep control of our attitudes and emit patience.
We are Called to be Like Jesus.
1 Timothy 1:16 says, "But this is why I was shown mercy, so that Christ Jesus could show his endless patience to me first of all. So I’m an example for those who are going to believe in him for eternal life." (CEB)
Christ Jesus shows endless patience towards us. He watches us make mistakes, stumble and fall, fail at becoming the people He desires us to be...
and He still loves every single bit of us.
We are called to follow after Jesus-- be like Him.
If He can love- if He can be patient with human beings-- if He can forgive-- if He can love with His whole heart even when we make mistakes......
why can't we?
Human beings are going to disappoint us. They're going to fail. They're going to make mistakes. They're going to annoy us. They're going to hurt us. They're going to fall short of being the best version of themselves.
We are going to disappoint others. We are going to fail. We are going to make mistakes. We are going to annoy others. We are going to hurt others. We are going to fall short of being the best versions of ourselves..
If we want grace- if we want mercy- if we want patience.
We must emit grace. We must emit mercy. We must emit patience.
Love is patient.
Jesus, we ask that You help us to remember that love is patient today. When our spouses start upsetting us- aggravating us... when our children become a bit overwhelming.. when other human beings are taking too long in the aisle in front of us.. when someone is hurting our feelings... We ask that you remind us of YOUR patience and that we are called to be like You. I plead Your blood over our minds and over our hearts-- take control of our emotions-- of our needs-- of our desires-- of our fears... and help us to exercise patience in our every day lives. Love is patient. Give us pure love-- that shines this. In Your name. Amen.
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