Faith

by Debbie Wallis

“Love is patience ” I Corinthians 13:4 We are created for fellowship with God and each other. That’s why separation from others, or solitude has always been a source of punishment

Relationships can be the source of our greatest pleasure or our greatest pain Problems rooted in relationships are the most common issues that Psychologist deals with One of the most important skills in leadership is the ability to get along with other people How you make others feel is very important Relationships develop character Who you are a year from today will be determined by what you allow in your mind and your associations during the next year “Bad company corrupts good character,” I Corinthians 15:33. You have to have your spiritual bootstraps pulled up and the “Full Amor of God” on to hang out with corrupt people as a ministry For whatever reason, one bad apple will destroy the whole bushel of good apples. You cannot put one good apple in a bushel of rotten apples and the bad apples turn good

I have been around children my whole life For close to 20 years I owned and operated two large childcare centers in Colorado and then I was a Children’s Pastor for 6 years before we moved to Howe I love kids and their view of everything! I’ve heard lots of definitions on love over the years and not once was it pointed back to the description God gives us in 1 Corinthians. Yet, God intends for over the years and not once was it pointed back to the description God gives us in 1 Corinthians Yet, God intends for love to be the basis of all of our relationships. Most people misunderstand what love is God sees the importance on how we treat people because people feel loved by the way they are treated. His definition of love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 can be used as a measuring tool to see if our relationships are based on love It doesn’t surprise me that the first thing He says is love is patient If you are going to have a viable and healthy relationship with anyone, you first need patience

Love has to be patient, easy going, tolerant, enduring to the end and persistent If you do not have patience then you need to turn around and go back to the basics of love. God patiently waited for you He loved you when you cared nothing at all about Him God patiently loved you through your tantrums, and tyrant years He never yelled at you or said He gave up He patiently loved you and waited for you to love Him back The Greek word used in here literally means “to have a high boiling point” If God says love is patient then I think it’s safe to say it is unloving to be impatient

As humans, you WILL face tough times with each other The reason we lake patience is because of the lack of understanding People are all unique and will not always be on the same page of life that you are on But “ be patient with everyone ” 1 Thessalonians 5:14 Paul is reminding us to be patient with everyone, not just like minded friends. God would never ask us to do something that he first doesn’t show us it can be done You will never have to be more patient than God has already shown you “I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst sinner, Christ might display His unlimited patience,” 1 Timothy 1:16 If anyone understood that it was Paul “There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but they all come from the same Spirit. There are different ways to serve the same Lord, and we can each do different things Yet the same God works in all of us and helps us in everything we do,” 1 Corinthians 12:4-6. We are all unique in our design I have four children They were all raised basically the same They are all completely different adults Their own Spiritual gifts make them unique Their own hearts make them unique, they are each motivated differently Their own abilities and natural talents make them different. Their own personalities make them unique and finally each of them have had different life experiences that have shaped their lives God knows this and that is why He calls us to be patient with each other.

“Accept each other just as Christ has accepted you,” Romans 15:7 I don’t know about you but when someone shows me no patience, it does not make me do better If anything it makes me feel like they don’t care about me, that they think better of their self than they do me Proverbs 14 tells us that a man has wisdom and understanding if he is patient There is no way we can cover the debts of why having patience is needed for love in the length of this article. I challenge you to do your own word study if you are lacking in this area Think of patience as being the bookend to your library on love None can stand on its own without it.

If you don’t have a Bible and would like one please contact me at sfadebbie@yahoo com and I will provide you with one.