"Love is patient."

Is there is a reason God made this the first of the "Love is...." in the popular 1 Corinthians 13 passage? As I sit here and ponder that, I feel with certainty it is. What is patience exactly? Not yelling at my kids when they push me to the brink of insanity? Saying yes when my husband asks to go hunting almost EVERY SINGLE day? What about waiting at a check out lane while the person in front of you unpiles an overflowing cart-full of groceries while you hold a loaf of bread and a gallon of milk? Are all those things considered patience? Maybe. But what if there was more to it? What if we are missing something?

Dictionary.com defines patience as:
1.

the quality of being patient, as the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss of temper, irritation, or the like.

2.

an ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay: to have patience with a slow learner.

3.

quiet, steady perseverance; even-tempered care; diligence: to work with patience.

 

By these standards, yes, not yelling at my kids or the lady in front of me in the checkout lane is indeed patience and good to do, may I add. But as I read the Bible and learn about how Jesus lived, my understanding of patience goes so much deeper.

 

Patience is unselfish. It is putting aside my own desires and expectations and looking at the other's before my own. Patience is thoughtful consideration, not impulsive reaction. Patience is a form of humility not a feeling of superiority.

 

Lets take my husband's weird need to go hunting for example. I don't understand it. I don't get the need to sit up in a tree stand for hours hoping a deer will come close enough that you can shoot it and watch it die. What I do know, is that he likes it-no, he loves it. So I say "yes" whenever he asks to go. I don't want to be one of those wives who never let their husbands do anything. Pretty patient of me right? Not exactly. You see, I may have physically said yes but inside I am saying "for real? Are you seriously going out AGAIN tonight? Don't you know that I am taking care of 4 kids, helping three do homework, cleaning, cooking, and entertaining while you go sit in a tree stand?!" Not so patient anymore is it? I am beginning to understand that patience is more than an outward response; your heart's response is so much more of an indicator of whether you have a good handle on it.

 

It's easier said then done, I know that probably more than anyone. But I do think it is possible. "Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn't want what it doesn't have. Love doesn't strut, doesn't have a swelled head. Isn't always 'me first,' doesn't fly off the handle, doesn't keep score of the sins of others, doesn't revel when others grovel, takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, puts up with anything, trusts God always, always looks for the best, never looks back, but keeps on going. (1 Corinthians 13: 4-7 The Message) You see, patience (real patience) is only doable through love. Jesus showed us how not so we can read the Bible and say "that's nice" but so we can emulate it. It is definitely not something that you either have or you don't. It is a work in progress, something that gets better with time. So, if you are like me and have very little of it, don't lose hope, one day you may be telling your husband "you go and have fun sitting in that deer stand!" and really mean every word.

Until next time.....