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"Love is Patient"

8/16/2011

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One thing we have to understand about God’s love is that it was a tangible, visible, demonstrative act in a life situation.  That is, his love was demonstrated in that “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”  God's love was not just a declaration on a scroll, but his own son nailed to a Roman cross for all the world to see.

So it is with the love we are to have for one another.  It is not just to be lip-service.  I’ve spoken to people who have left relationships in shambles by shameful behavior and said, “That’s not who I am; I’m really a very loving person.”  Oh, really?

Every man is a paragon of virtue in his own mind.  The love of God is shown, not by what we imagine in ourselves, but in what we demonstrate to others.  Patience is a quality that can be seen in us by others.  Its opposite – impatience, annoyance, intolerance – can also be seen. 

Here is the meaning of the word patient in the Greek text: To be of a long spirit, not to lose heart, to persevere patiently and bravely in enduring misfortunes and troubles, to be patient in bearing the offenses and injuries of others, to be mild and slow in avenging, to be longsuffering, slow to anger, slow to punish.

That’s pretty demonstrable, right?

Let me just mention two aspects of love-is-patient.  First, love is patient in the immediate circumstances.  That is, we can be in a situation where the other guy may be demonstrating immaturity (i.e., they’re acting like a big, fat baby!)  Patience will endure a lot of grief for the sake of the brother.  Even when the opportunity calls for some corrective action, it is done patiently, graciously and gently.

Second, love is patient in the long-term goals.  Love is willing to give relationships a long time to mature. Months.  Years. It's not just being patient in the moment of frustration (see above), but in the amassed moments of frustration that span a lifetime. 

Love never gives up on bringing God’s people to maturity.  Impatience is demonstrated when we want to speed up God’s maturity process. We get annoyed at immaturity.  We become intolerant with the slow developers.  The immature slow down our progress in missions and ministry. We find it easier to cast the infantile brother out to fend for himself (“be warm, be filled”) than we would spend the time encouraging them to spiritual adulthood.

I think love is rare because we give up on one another too easily.  People can be draining to our spirit.  This is why God’s love is practiced in God’s community.  Sure, there are those spiritual rug-monkeys who will eventually drain us of energy, but the mature come together to bear the load, to strengthen one another with a mission in mind – to exercise patience until the kids are grown and raising their own spiritual progeny.

Timothy King
Restoration Ministries
Grand Junction, Colorado
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    About Me:
    When I was young, I wanted nothing more than to be theologically trained and enter the ministry. Then, I'd hoped I would be run out of the church I pastored and wind up in a low-paying retail job. People, I am living the dream! Besides that, I'm part of a small, home fellowship in Grand Junction, Colorado, married to a wonderful woman and we raised three wonderful daughters. One is married to a great guy, one is in nursing school, and our youngest passed away in 2010. Yes, life is good!
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  • Home
  • Contact
    • Like Us on Facebook
    • Follow us on Twitter
  • About
    • We Believe: in the Sovereignty of God
    • We Believe: in the Deity of Christ
  • Mission
  • Articles
    • The Kingdom the Prophets Saw >
      • The Nature of Christ's Kingdom and New Creation >
        • The Heavens and the Earth
        • The Afterlife
        • Communion with God
        • The Conscience of Guilt, the Conscience of Innocence
        • Heaven Love Light
        • Heaven and Sinlessness
        • The Kingdom and Communion of God
        • The Kingdom of God and Heaven
      • Abraham's Bosom and Sheol
      • In the Days of these Kings
      • The Kingdom of Christ in the Old Testament
      • Exodus 33
    • The Kingdom of Christ in Creation >
      • Collins/Dawkins Debate
      • Creation and Its Eternal Purpose
      • Genesis
      • God and Time
      • Metaphors of Health
      • Music, Worship and Creation
      • The Church: Making Sense of God Resting on the Seventh Day
      • The Purpose of Night
    • The Kingdom of Christ in the Psalms >
      • Psalm 46
      • Psalm 47
      • Psalm 69
    • The Kingdom of Christ in Isaiah >
      • Isaiah 33
      • Isaiah 40 part 1
      • Isaiah 40 part 2
      • Isaiah 40 part 3
      • Isaiah 57
    • Living in the New Creation >
      • Blogs of Division
      • Christian Zionism
      • Dancing in Fields of Grace
      • The Deceiver and the Deceived
      • Evil vs. Evil
      • Fellowship
      • A Grieving Father's Thoughts on Tragedy
      • He That Is Spiritual
      • I Have Called You Friends
      • Let's Not Forget Mercy
      • Seeing Good in Evil
      • Self-Righteousness vs. Being Overtaken in a Fault
      • Times of Refreshing
      • What Then? Are We Better Than They?
      • The Law and Its Scope and Purpose for Israel and Beyond
      • Justice and Judgment: Curious Contrasts of the Merciful and Merciless
    • Academic Papers >
      • Church Fathers vs. Calvin on the Eucharist
    • Theology and the Kingdom of God >
      • Logos, Antichrist, and Creation--No Greek Origin
  • Audio
    • Christ in the Psalms
    • Conference Messages
    • 1 Corinthians 15
    • NCMI on the Radio
    • Podcasts >
      • B.A.T.
      • Exploring the Garden Scene
      • Guest Interviews
      • Heavenly Visions of the Prophets >
        • Isaiah 52
        • Isaiah 55
        • Isaiah 60
        • Isaiah 65
    • Subscribe: iTunes
    • Subscribe: Podcast RSS
  • Video
    • Eschatology
    • Sermons by Ward Fenley >
      • Galatians
      • Mercy? Me?
      • Total Depravity and the Gift of Faith
      • Sermon Archive 2008
      • Sermon Archive 2009
      • Sermon Archive 2010
    • The Sovereignty of God
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