So to start the
study off, we start with PATIENCE. Love
is Patient -1 Corinthians 13:4a
now, if you pray for patience, God will give you opportunities to practice
patience, therefore, some frustrating circumstances might arise.
mean to be patient?
Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;
do not fret – Psalm 37:7
Whoever is patient has great understanding, but one
who is quick-tempered displays folly. – Proverbs 14:29
A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict, but the one who is patient
calms a quarrel. – Proverbs 15:18
1.
the quality of being patient, as the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss of temper, irritation, or the like.
2. an ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay: to have patience with a slow learner.
3. quiet, steady perseverance; even-tempered care; diligence: to work with patience.
keel when someone is annoying, frustrating, or just getting under your skin is
not easy. God never said “You will get along with every single person”, but he
does call us to have patience with everyone, because we are called to love
everyone.
mean snapping at someone, being irritable, having road rage (or back seat
driving), or trying to rush something or someone along. It is not sighing
heavily at the person taking forever in line in front of you, or rolling your
eyes at the fumbling waitress. It is not telling the telemarketer off, but
instead wishing them a great day.
grace for those who it is not easily given and reacting with love and kindness
even in tough situations. It is remaining calm, remaining loving, remaining at
ease in uneasy situations.
in a bad mood, patience is the farthest thing from my mind let alone my
actions. This week will be hard, but I want to be held accountable to it. Will
I be perfect in it? I am guessing not. But if this is on my mind, it will be
really convicting those times when I am not patient, and I pray will help my
patience for the future. I will be writing this word on sticky notes at work,
having reminders go off from my phone, I will revert to the junior high method
of writing the word on my hand, and I hope to have friends and family reminding
me of this word. I pray for grace for me, and any of my fellow friends who will
be truly letting lifestyle of patience sink into their hearts this week.
For those of you
who are with me in this study, get ready, strap in, because this is going to be
a frustrating and challenging week that tests our patience to the limit. But
with God, we can do all things!!
