Love Is Patient
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September 02, 2012 |
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 "Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant." (1 Corinthians 13:4)
A quick-tempered person usually makes many mistakes due to his impatience. Some Christians can't remain patient. Consequently, they are unable to wait with faith. For instance, they feel discouraged when they've been changed less than they expected though they fasted and prayed fervently to cast away sin and evil. Or they feel nervous or exhausted when nothing happened although they gave offerings and prayed to receive a certain answer.
In order to achieve spiritual love written in 1 Corinthians Chapter 13 as well as to receive answers to our prayers, we need to be patient. Then, we can bear beautiful fruits.
1. What is patient love?
1 Corinthians 13:4 and the continuing verses talk about the 15 characteristics of spiritual love. It says "Love is patient" as the first characteristic. What does it mean spiritually? It means we should be patient with various afflictions that come to us while trying to love others and be lovingly patient with our selves.
Let's say someone is jealous of you and hates you though you haven't done anything wrong to him. You might want to avoid him and you might not want to even see him on the streets. When you listen to the Word of God that tells you to love even your enemy, you may consider how to love him but with anxiety. To achieve spiritual love, you must be patient with and love someone like the one in this situation. Even if someone speaks ill of you for no reason and hates you, you should control your heart and love him with patience.
This kind of love, namely, the love that is patient and endures all difficulties that comes to us when we try to obey the Word of God is 'patient love'. But the patience in the Love Chapter includes smaller concepts of love than the love characterized in the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit. Patience as one of the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit is to be patient with everything in every circumstance for the kingdom of God and His righteousness whereas patience in the Love Chapter is applied to individuals as patience to love others.
2. The power of patient love
Matthew 5:44 reads, "But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." Here, 'enemies' refers to people who do great harm to you such that you harbor a deep grudge against them. Jesus who came to the Earth for sinners loved enemies and prayed for those who persecuted Him. But men mocked, despised, and abased Him who did only good things for them. However, Jesus still made an intercession to God for them, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 22:34).
Jesus loved mankind with patience even though they'd become enemies toward God. As a result, the amazing work of salvation occurred. Anyone who believes the Lord and accepts Him as the Savior can be set free from the bondage of the enemy devil and become God's child. The power of patient love is this great.
How long can you keep patient? Can you give patient love to those who speak ill of you for no reason and hate you? Or, do you find it difficult for you to endure even your spouse, husband, children, and brothers of faith although they are not enemies?
Matthew 5:39-40 reads, "But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also." How shameful it is to want to take even someone's shirt! The passage tells us to add more love to love even in such a case.
Today, many people can't endure it when someone endangers them or causes a little harm to them or their possessions. They may even bring a lawsuit against them. Even if the damage is attributed to mistakes of their own wife, husband, parents, or children, some of them bring charges against them. When you keep your patience with those who did harm to you, some people even think you are foolish. However, do we have to pay a person back the way the worldly people do? No, we don't. We must keep patient and act in goodness.
Some might say, "How can I be patient if I'm feeling so distressed and angry?" But we can do it when we have spiritual faith and love. This is because we have the love and faith of Father God who endured sinners and had mercy on them even though they crucified His only begotten Son. If you believe you have received such love from God, you can forgive anybody who does harm to you no matter how great the harm is. There is nobody we can't love when we love the Lord who unsparingly gave His life.
3. To achieve spiritual patience
Some people force themselves to suppress hatred, hot-tempers, and ill-feelings, but they explode when their maximum capacity of patience is surpassed. Others developed emotional disorders caused by anger that was suppressed without expressing their feelings outwardly due to their introverted personalities.
But the kind of patience God wants us to have is to keep patient until the end without changing. In other words, it is patience that doesn't need the expression 'patience'. It is not to pile up hatred and discomfort in our hearts, but to get rid of their fundamental roots and change them into mercy and love. This kind of patience is real patience in the spiritual sense.
It's not difficult to love even enemies when we have no evil and become full of spiritual love. Then, we won't make anyone our enemy and everybody will look lovely even if he/she does things that aren't understandable. We won't hate people because they have deficiencies or even if they hate us.
On the contrary, if we have untruths like hatred, arguments, jealousy, and envy, we will see others' shortcomings and hate them when they don't agree with us although they are really nice people. And if you are good at lying, you will think others also lie though they tell the truth.
Then, how many times do we have to keep patient with evil doers? Peter asked Jesus, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?" Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven" (Matthew 18:21-22).
Here, 'seven' is the number that symbolizes degree of perfectness, namely, it means you should forgive perfectly. It is boundless forgiveness and love. Of course, it's not easy to change your hatred into love overnight. But you should try hard to love without ceasing. Even when you have ill-feelings and anger, you have to hold them in first and try hard to get rid of them. Then, they will be changed into the truth and spiritual love will grow in you.
Sinful natures deep in your heart can be gotten rid of when you pray fervently in fullness of the Holy Spirit. You also need to endeavor to see others with love and treat them with goodness. As you do so, hatred in you will disappear and you will come to love others. When you have no ill-feelings and no one to hate, you will feel as happy as if you were in Heaven. Since you cast off all untruths and are filled with goodness and love, you don't have to be patient but you can just love everybody.
Men of goodness with no evil have nothing with which they must be patient. When they need patience with someone, they don't have to try to be patient but they can wait until he/she is changed. Do you think you need patience in Heaven? In Heaven are only love and goodness. There are no tears, no sorrow, no pain, and no evil. There will be nothing to hate, get angry at, and begrudge. But God explains that "Love is patient" so that people can understand love better.
Dear brothers and sisters, I pray in the name of the Lord by casting away every form of evil you will endure, love, and wait for your selves and evil men no matter how evil they are.
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