Calling Patient Love

Calling Patient Love

 

There are 15 key ingredients to love.

Do you know what the main ingredient is?

1 Corinthians 13:4

gives us a definition of love;

there are 15 descriptive words

to help us see the ingredients.

The first ingredient to produce love

that is mentioned is patience.

“Love is Patient”

This is not a user friendly word;

we are all in a hurry

and want instant results.

This ingredient has to be first.

The other ingredients

won’t work without patience.

Try to be kind,

when you are impatient.

Try not to be rude,

when you have run out of patience.

Go ahead…
look at the other ingredients of love

and see if they work without patience.

I wonder how many arguments between

parents and children,

husband and wife,

neighbors and fellow church members,

could have been avoided

if you added the ingredient of patience.

I like this definition of patience…

“The ability to endure without complaining.”

There are many times in life

we have to be patient

because someone else has dropped the ball

or done something to inconvenience us.

Yes, they should not have dropped the ball

 and they should have been more considerate.

But how do we react?

The better response

is how do we pro-act?

In life, we need to bring correction

and sometime it needs to be firm.

But is our actions,

for our benefit

or the other person’s?

Living a worthy life

has to have this second key

of being patient in love!

Scripture Reading

Ephesians 4:1-2 NIV

4:1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then,

I urge you to live

a life worthy of the calling

you have received.

2 Be completely humble

and gentle;

be patient,

bearing with one another in love.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 NIV

4 Love is patient,

love is kind.

It does not envy,

it does not boast,

it is not proud.

5 It is not rude,

it is not self-seeking,

it is not easily angered,

it keeps no record of wrongs.

6 Love does not delight in evil

but rejoices with the truth.

7 It always protects,

always trusts,

always hopes,

always perseveres.

8 Love never fails.

1 Thessalonians 5:14-15 NIV

14 And we urge you, brothers,

warn those who are idle,

encourage the timid,

help the weak,

be patient with everyone.