Love is Patient
Introduction
Looking at v4
Looking at love in practical terms: it suffers long
Would you say that patience is in short supply in Great Britain today?
There is little room for failure in today’s society
So often there is little concern for the individual
The qualities of patience and kindness are so often missing
We live in a ruthless world – less tolerant, more unforgiving, more judgmental, more vitriolic
This is an opportunity for the Church:
To shine
To be longsuffering in trials
To be patient and kind to others
This is the first word he speaks on love – patience
Not giving, not protecting – it suffers long
There are other definitions of love in Scripture (e.g. it is self-sacrificial)
First of all – is patient
Overview:
God’s Patience
The Apostle’s Patience
Our Patience
God’s Patience
v1-3 Paul was speaking on a horizontal level
In all this – if we do not have love, it is not profitable to us
Is it just horizontal?
The love Paul is speaking about – must flow from God
It is not just a human quality of love
Love comes from God – though we must exercise its qualities
God’s patience
Consider Noah
God must punish sin and wickedness
Noah was a preacher of righteousness
God gave the world time to repent (1 Peter 3:20)
His patience is a display of His mercy
Consider Moses
He does not execute justice immediately
Numbers 14:17-19a
Consider ourselves
How he bore with us before we were saved
How he has borne with us in all our failure since salvation
Patience – an attribute and a title of God (Rom 15:5)
God does not have a short fuse or become impatient (unlike us)
We are to be imitators of God
We are to imitate God’s patience
We are called to bear with one another in love
Examples
We are called to be like Jesus
Example of Jesus Christ
Mark 1:33
With His own disciples
Feeding the 5’000
The disciples not understanding
The general unbelief of the people
The Garden of Gethsemane
The false court of the Sanhedrin
Upon the cross
We must ask God to enable us
We must ask God for help to imitate Christ and Him
The Apostle’s Patience
The Corinthians were called to imitate Paul
Was he patient with the Corinthians?
He does not name and shame people – 1 Cor 9:1
He was to bear with them many years and write a second letter – 2 Cor 6:11-13, 7:2
He would continue to love them, even though their love for him decreased – 2 Cor 12:15
He never gave up on the church but loved the people
Paul was not perfect
There is an incident with the high priest – for which he apologised
He was not a sinless saint
He was an example – 1 Thess 5:14
Do no render evil for evil, but pray without ceasing – 1 Thess 5:15-17
When our patience is often tested – God can give us great grace
Our Patience
What about ourselves?
Do we say we do not have patience, we have a short fuse or that person gets under my skin?
We have the Holy Spirit living within us
We must pray for the fruit of the Holy Spirit
The patience of God
One explanation: the power that God has to show self-restraint, not to judge men but to give them time
There is an element of control in God
Are you patient in some situations but not others?
Example of driving
Maybe because others do not see – God sees
We want to exercise patience
To love God
To love others
God will produce character in trials through patience – James 1:2-4
To receive a crown of life – James 1:12
Closing Remarks