Love is patient....

The other day I was reading through the Bible and was making my way through a very known Bible verse:  1 Corinthians 13.

Marshall Erikson from How I met your Mother did a good rendition of it(Season 2 episode 22):

Horrible wedding clichés we're not going
to touch with a ten-foot limbo pole.
Oh, like First Corinthians?
That Bible verse?
They do that at every wedding.
How's it go?
"Love is patient and kind.
"Love does not envy or boast.
"It is not arrogant or rude.
"Love does not insist
on it's own way.
"It is not irritable
or resentful.
"Love bears all things,
"believes all things,
"hopes all things...
"endures all things."

Love is patient they say?!

What patience though?

According to Mr Webster, patience is:  the capacity, habit, or fact of being [able to remain calm and not become annoyed when waiting for a long time or when dealing with problems or difficult people]

Ok then....

 

Well - I was reading this passage in the King James Version (KJV) of the bible and here's how it read:

[Love] suffereth long, and is kind; [love] envieth not; [love] vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

Suffereth long seems to be so much better than "is patient".  Patient seems to have so much room for interpretation based on what each person believes it to mean - but when you read "suffereth long" - it really hits home.

Where there is love - there will be suffering.  If people tell you that love is all rosy and everything else - they're lying to you.  But - the suffering should not be the suffering of you hurting the other person.  It's more of a you are suffering because you want what's best for the other person, they don't listen and as a result they get hurt and this leads to you suffering.  You warned them because you love them.  You warned them because you're trying to look out for them.  You warned them because you see a potential in them that you want to see them achieve.  Them falling short leads to you suffering.

Jesus suffered long on the cross.    He suffered getting whipped and all other physical abuse prior to the cross.  He suffered when he was betrayed.  Still with that - he continued to love.

With love there is a passion - I wrote briefly about this as a tribute to my uncle and how this ties into love and suffering (see here:  http://thejoshuejourney.blogspot.ca/2015/07/the-real-tom-green.html)

Today when I look at the world - I don't see a world that loves their neighbour as themselves.  I see 1 - parents buying iPhones for their kids because all their friends have one(thou shall not covet thy neighbours' belongings), 2 - I see families fighting over money(love of money is the root of all evil), 3 - I see siblings not speaking to one another (Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, ²⁴ leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.)

If we look at these 3 items I just mentioned and compare to 1 Corinthians 13 - we can clearly see how they fall short from love.

1 - Why does your child want the phone?  Yes - I'm asking why your child wants the phone and not why you're buying it for them.  They want the phone because their friends have one.  But isn't it written:  love does not envy???  And parents - should we not be teaching our children this?

2 - Why are families fighting over money?!  Pretty much the same thing as item 1 - they want something that the other person has.  They are jealous of the other - but again - it is written:  Love does not envy.

3 - Why are siblings not talking to one another?  Is it because one has something the other doesn't have?  Well - love doesn't envy.  Is it because one sibling is upset at what the other sibling did?  Well love is not irritable or resentful. 

If you find yourself in one of these 3 items in any way - you should pray about it.

It's clear we live in a world where people don't love their neighbours as themselves.  The only way this can get fixed is through prayer, and recognizing our behaviour when these situations comes up.