Love is patient. That means that when others bring pain and suffering into our lives by their words or actions, we bear it calmly, without complaint. It also means that we show forbearance when provoked or aggravated. This kind of love remains steadfast despite opposition, hostility or adversity. Dictionary.com defines patience as “bearing provocation, annoyance, misfortune, delay, hardship, pain, etc., with fortitude and calm and without complaint, anger, or the like.”

The Greek word used here for patience is makrothumia which means long (macro) temper (thumia).  In other words, it means to moderate or mitigate; to exercise control over, or govern restraint for long periods of time.  It makes sense that it is usually translated as “long suffering” in the New Testament.

W. E. Vine in his Comprehensive Dictionary of the Original Greek Words with the Precise Meanings for English Readers defines the verb makrothemeo in this way: Longsuffering is that quality of self-restraint in the face of provocation which does not hastily retaliate or promptly punish; it is the opposite of anger and is associated with mercy.  Patience is the quality that does not surrender to circumstances or succumb under trial; it is the opposite of despondency and is associated with hope. *

In this country, suffering is not the norm like it is in many third world nations.  In those countries, many suffer poverty, hunger, easily-cured sickness, hardships, and even mistreatment by their own government.  There, people live with suffering as a way of life. Here, we treat suffering as something to be avoided at ALL costs. Those costs may include: selfishness, greed, dishonestly, and even taking what belongs to another. Often instead of enduring suffering with the proper attitude, we withdraw from the person we should patiently love. We file for divorce or become estranged from our children, parents, or friends just because we do not want to suffer in any way; even if that just means having to admit where we are wrong.  Protecting our pride often becomes more important than showing love.

Over the years I have seen some excellent examples of even tempered, long suffering patient love.  The first was my parents who gave up many of the nicer things in life so that their children could all be well taken care of and receive a college education.

Another example that comes to my mind is my neighbor whose wife has severe dementia. He grieves the loss of the life they once had together; raising children, sharing dreams, and working on projects. He misses the conversation, intimacy and fellowship they once shared.  

Now, it’s a daily struggle just to take care of everything by himself plus bath and feed his wife who barely recognizes him; much less appreciates his sacrifice. Still, he never complains as he faithfully meets her needs while his go unmet.

Lastly, there is my wife who has remained by my side through years of financial and emotional difficulty with my bouts of depression and self-hatred. Instead of looking for greener grass on the other side of the fence she has patiently worked with me to make the grass greener right where we are.

Love is long suffering. A person full of agape love is willing to suffer for extended periods of time for the good of others. The ultimate expression of this attribute is Christ’s death on the cross. “For the joy set before Him, he endured the cross, despising the shame…” 

I would love to hear about your struggles, successes, and examples of love that is long suffering and patient.  Please forward this email to others who might be helped by this topic.

Anyone who has ever raised a child knows that they are not born with the ability to love (agape) like God. As toddlers, none of my nine children exactly exemplified patience, kindness or selflessness. I was reminded of this truth watching my adorable Grandson, Mikey grab a toy right out of his cousin’s hand and sweet little Bella, in return, rake her little fingernails across his face leaving a nasty red scratch. We’re all born sinners but being made in the likeness of God, have the capacity to grow to be like Him. Children learn Godly attributes of love through training, discipline and our own imperfect attempts to model it: They love because we first loved them!

In my quiet time today, I was amazed to see that even Jesus learned to love in the same we should; that is, by recognizing and experiencing the Father’s love for us, and emulating it.

“Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. (John 15:9)
“… and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” (John 17:26)

Jesus couldn’t have made it any clearer that this is for us as well when He said “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” (John 13:34).

Paul’s letter to the Corinthians was written to clearly define love and make it easy (Ha!) for us to apply the scriptures to our daily lives.
4  Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant,
5  does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,
6  does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;
7  bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8a  Love never fails…

These are the verses we will be discussing phrase by phrase over the next weeks. The older I get, the more I realize how far short I fall in loving others.  I also see how much more I need to grow in my understanding of how much God loves me so that I can better love those around me.

To participate please go http://wp.me/pFhp5-T

Go to the bottom to where it says:
Leave a Reply

The first time you visit click to leave a comment:
Enter Name:
Enter Email:
Enter Comment:  You can make any comment or just let us know you want to participate
Click box that you want to be notified of any follow-up comments by email
and Click box to want to be notified of site updates

1 Corinthians 13:
4  Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant,
5  does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,
6  does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;
7  bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8a  Love never fails;

In the Greek, there are three different words for love: Agape (unconditional love), Eros (Sexual love) and Phileo (brotherly love).  In this passage, the word that is used is agape.

Discussion Questions:
In a few days we will start with the first phrase “Love is Patient” but until then I would love to get your general comments or questions on:

How would you describe / define agape love?

How have you seen it demonstrated?

Shortlink: http://wp.me/pFhp5-D