This past Sunday I was not preaching and therefore was blessed to lead the congregation in the confession of sin. It is always a rich time together as we prepare our hearts for worship by considering what God requires and what Christ has done. We are presently walking through 1 Cor 13 to be reminded what the Bible says about love. It is teaching us about where we need to repent even as it teaches us how we must treasure Christ. Here are my notes from Sunday.
1 Corinthians 13:4 we read the profound and powerful words: Love is patient.
What does this mean? When we think of patience we may think of the word tranquil or peaceful. This is a good start for us. However, the word is nuanced a bit to involve some type of opposition or perhaps even suffering. This is important because it means that when the heat gets turned up around us or within us–we can take it. We don’t lash out, we don’t give up, we don’t lose it.
When we think about patience we have to think about God himself. He is said to be very patient when provoked.
- “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” (Psalm 103:8)
- “The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,” (Exodus 34:6)
How do we root out a lack of love that is characterized by impatience? We can think through what this teaches us about how we respond to people. If we lack patience with people then we are lacking love for them. The Bible is clear that we are to love both enemy and friend alike, therefore we are to be patient with all.
Consider this past week, or even the last day.
- In your relationships, are you patient? Are you loving others?
- Has someone gotten under your skin lately? Have you become unsettled and lashed out at them?
- Husbands and wives: Is your relationship characterized by love’s fruit of patience?
- Parents, consider your relationship with your kids. Do you find yourself patient with your children when they disobey? Are your expectations reasonable so as to foster obedience and loving patience?
- Children consider your relationship with your brothers and sisters. Are you patient with them? Do you yell at them when they don’t listen to you or do what you want them to do right away?
- Was there an issue at work this week? How did you respond?
- Have you lashed out on social media or in a text? Do you take to the public airways to air your frustrations?
- Do you yell and scream at people who cut you off on the road? Do you go to war with your vehicular enemies?
- Are you losing your temper when things don’t go your way? Can you handle adversity with patience?
- Are you patient with God’s timing? Do you find it difficult to embrace providence?
- Even when persecuted for righteousness sake we are to maintain the peaceful fruit of love; patience.
How do we respond?
We pray in confession of sin. We take these items that God brings to our mind and we scurry to him in prayer. Even as we do, we remember that God is patient with us because Jesus was the incarnation of love and always patiently endured when wronged in our place. Therefore, we stand in his righteousness even as we pray with confession of our sin.
Our Father, as your children we climb up to your lap in prayer to confess our sin to you. Your word has highlighted the importance of patience in both pleasant and difficult times. How often we fall short of what you require. And how often do we justify our shortcomings based upon the circumstances that press upon us. Forgive us, Our Father. Forgive us for our lack of patience, our lack of love. Cleanse us again with the pardoning grace that Christ bought for us. And work renewal into us that bears fruit in keeping with repentance. May we encourage each other towards this patience. Make us to be a people, a church that is characterized by a loving patience which reflects you our patient and loving God.
