It Starts Small

We have spent the last week looking at the source of love. Love is God and God is love. We can not love others without first loving Him. He chose to love us first, before we ever loved Him. If we want to love others, we have to first understand the source of Love is God.

SO now we get to see what love is and is not. What I love about studying love, is that because love is God, each of the actions of love are a characteristic of His love towards us.  As we study through 1 Corinthians 13, remember this is also how God loves us.

Patience.

Love is Patient… CSB, NLT
Charity suffereth long… KJV
Love suffers long… NKJV

The original Greek word used was makrothymeō and means 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.

According to webster, the English word patience means the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset. Longsuffering means having or showing patience in spite of troubles, especially those caused by other people.

What are some examples of God’s Patience in His Word:

²⁰ who in the past were disobedient, when God patiently waited in the days of Noah while the ark was being prepared. In it a few—that is, eight people —were saved through water.

1 Peter 3:20

We can look at the story of Noah. The Lord was very patient with people during the days of Noah. Can you imagine, no one had ever seen rain before. I can not imagine a world without rain. Noah warned the people to repent, but they refused and all but 8 died in the flood. During that time, God was very patient with the people. SO much so, HE had Noah build an ark to save them. 

We can look to the life of Abraham (Genesis 20-21) and see God’s patient with his lapses of faith. Abraham learned how costly it can be to be impatient. When we try to manipulate circumstances it brings heartache. When he and his wife tried to help God out, the immediate result was jealousy, anger, and family strife. There was also a long-term consequence: a bloody conflict that still rages today between the descendants of Hagar’s son Ishmael and Sarah’s son Isaac. The Lord promised Abraham and Sarah a baby, but they ended up waiting for the fulfillment until childbearing was humanly impossible. When Isaac was finally conceived and born, all the glory went to God.   God could have decided to give up on both of them for their dumb idea and going through with it, but instead, He remained patient with them. God’s patience was teaching them patience.

We learn about God’s patience in the life of Moses when the people were wandering in the desert for 40 years. 

The Lord passed in front of him and proclaimed:

The Lord—the Lord is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth,

Exodus 34:6

Over and over we read of the heart breaking tale of humanity. God would show up and the people would rejoice. They would be delivered from suffering and once the celebration was over, they’d return to their doubting and fear. But God never gave up on them. They had to deal with the consequences of their sin, but because God loves us, He will correct us to make our path straight. 

Yet he was compassionate;
he atoned for their iniquity
and did not destroy them.
He often turned his anger aside
and did not unleash all his wrath.

Psalm 78:38

God forgives us of our sin and does not destroy us. He loves us so much that he brought a new covenant between us and Him through Christ. 

I will delay my anger for the sake of my name,
and I will restrain myself for your benefit and for my praise,
so that you will not be destroyed.

Isaiah 48:9

God is not quick tempered and the Son is patient. The patience of Jesus was the patience of His heavenly Father. God has great patience towards us by delaying Christ’s return. God shows us His love even though the world is full of rebellion and hate. God is perfect grace, kindness, and forbearance because He is perfect love and His acts are motivated by a perfect love.

Or do you despise the riches of his kindness, restraint, and patience, not recognizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance? ⁵ Because of your hardened and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed.

Romans 2:4-5

 God is patiently waiting for all to repent and to turn to Him. 

The problem we face is we take His patience and use it as a license to sin, but God’s punishment and judgement has been spoken. God’s mercy with holds the waters of judgement upon all. 

God’s mercy and patience is not endless. He waited for repentance in the days of Noah but it did not last forever. The flood still came. Later God told Abraham there would come judgement on the Canaanites, but not until it came to full measure. God pronounces judgement, but allows for time between His spoken Judgement and following through. 

¹¹ The Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people despise me? How long will they not trust in me despite all the signs I have performed among them? ¹² I will strike them with a plague and destroy them. Then I will make you into a greater and mightier nation than they are.”

Numbers 14:11-12

God’s justice requires that He punish those who do not respond to His patience and loving kindness. Remember, God is not fair, He is a just God. He is compassionate, but holds ALL accountable. Jesus warned (John 12:37-40) the people and us to not go beyond the patience of God. The people knew the scriptures but rejected Him. They refused to believe even though they had witnessed miracles and His own testimony. As a result, God blinded and hardened their hearts. 

How do we grow in Patience?

Accept Discomfort! Our modern day definition of patience is enduring without complaint. Paul urges us to be patient in affliction. This is NOT putting a lid on anger and resentment. It means crucifying our anger through surrender and detachment to it. Patience is born out of acceptance and surrender. We need to be ruthless over our complaining.

Discipleship of Forgiveness. Never once do we see God blow a gasket and scream, “I’m done with you.” This is because God forgives us and lets us start over. Impatience erupts when we hang onto the past. 

Extend Grace. We need to learn to give the grace given to us to others. Our entire lives are spent taking two steps forward and one step backward or sometimes one step forward and two back. BUT!! God affirms us, loves us, and encourages us with His grace. We need to extend that grace to others. The greatest poison to others and our relationships is to withhold grace.

A person’s insight gives him patience,
and his virtue is to overlook an offense.

Proverbs 19:11

Have you considered that delays in your life can also glorify God? Or are you trying to help Him out in an attempt to get what you want more quickly? Waiting is difficult, but it’s the only way we learn patience, which is precious to the Lord. When you experience a delay, use it as an opportunity to build your trust in God and your confidence in His wisdom and perfect plan. When other’s test your patience, know that it is actually an opportunity to extend grace.

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