Love is Patient

Well, last week we started our / / What’s Love Got To Do With It? series, looking at what Paul writes about love, mainly in 1 Corinthians 13, but as we saw last week, context is always so important. Paul starts the conversation in what we call chapter 12, of course he didn’t write this as a biblical book, he wrote it as a letter to the church in Corinth.

After talking through our need to be connected because we are all gifted in different ways, we are all different parts of the body, he takes this big shift and says, “And even though all those gifts are awesome, and you should definitely be pursuing them, especially the ones that will make you most helpful...” he says in 1 Corinthians 12:31, the last verse of that chapter, / / And I will show you a still more excellent way. or, as the NLT says it, …now let me show you a way of life that is best of all.

And then he really digs in to the first three verses of chapter 13, which we looked at last week, and shows us, regardless of our mental ability, spiritual ability, or physical ability, if we don’t learn that this is 100% all about love, we will completely miss the mark. If you’re using the gifts without love, you’re doing it all wrong. And that may sound extreme, but what does Paul say?

/ / If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

If I talk without love, it’s just noise.

If I minister, or use the gifts that even the Holy Spirit gives, but use them without love, I would be nothing - my identity isn’t found in the use of gifts, it’s found only in the love of God.

If I have it all and even give it all but do it without love, I gain nothing.

That word nothing is a very strong word, yes, it means nothing, it also means to neuter. You can literally produce nothing, there will be no life whatsoever from the things we do, whether that is from our mental, spiritual or physical ability, if it doesn’t have love attached to it. You’re taking the true power out of it if you remove love. The power is in the love.

Paul goes as far to say in Colossians 3:14, / / Above all, clothe yourselves in love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.

So, that’s the / / groundwork, the framework, it’s all about love. Even at the end, we get through Chapter 13 and he starts vs 1 of chapter 14, / / Let love be your highest goal.

Waking up everyday we should be thinking, how can I love better? How can I show love? How can I act in love? How can I speak in love? How can I respond in love? How can I do this thing called love better?

So, What’s love got to do with it? Everything!

So, let’s jump in this morning 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, / / Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

So, we’re going to look at just ONE word today, / / Love is patient!

Now, one of my favorite resources that I like to use when studying the Bible is a website called biblehub.com. It doesn’t list every translation, but when you search a verse it gives you 27 different translations right away. And sometimes I just like reading the verse over and over again in a bit of a different way, and seeing what older translations use vs newer ones.

So, this word, patient, of the 27 versions that biblehub gives you right away, 22 of them use the word / / patient, and the other 5 all say the same thing, they use the phrase long suffering, or suffereth long. And that’s very accurate, the greek word that Paul used is / / makrothymeo, and it means to be long spirited, forbearing or patient, to bear, or suffer, for a long time, to have patience, to be patient, to patiently endure, to not lose heart.

ok, so when Paul says Love is patient, what he’s really asking us is, / / When it comes to the people you love, do you persevere patiently and bravely through enduring misfortunes and troubles?

OK, there’s a few things we always want to be keeping in the back of our minds when we’re talking about love:

/ / God IS love.

And if God IS love, and love IS patient, then we have to ask ourselves, “Have we experienced,” or “HOW have we experienced the patience of God?” And do we realize that in His love, God has been very very patient with us?

We can ask this of every aspect of love as we look at it. If God IS love, and love acts or responds in a certain way, then how have I experienced God’s love in that way? Love is patient - how has God been patient toward me. Love is Kind - how has God been kind to ward me...

/ / Love the Lord your God...

If Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and if love is patient, then our second question is, How are we patient with God? If we love God, does patience get expressed in our relationship with God? What does that mean? What does that look like?

/ / …and your neighbor as yourself.

Now, we know that Jesus says that this is equal to, or the same as, equally important as loving God. In fact, he says that all of the law and prophets rest, or rely on, are fulfilled in these two commandments together, to love God and to love people as we love ourselves.

But, this is kind of split command, there’s two questions here:

If we are to love others as we love ourselves, then we must learn to love ourselves, So, if love is patient, how patient are you with yourself?

And equally, how patient are you with other people?

So, those are the questions we can ask when we’re talking about love.

/ / How does God love (patient) with me?

How do I love (patient) God?

How do I love (patient) myself?

How do I love (patient) others?

Alright, so let’s look at those this morning.

/ / God IS Patient

The greatest way that God shows His patience toward us, to all humanity, those who are followers of Jesus and those who are not. Remember, we read last week that it was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us. In fact, before the foundations of the world, God had already decided what he was going to do. AND it was for the sake of the world, everyone included, that the Godhead, the trinity, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, decided that the life of Jesus Christ expressed on this earth and through his death and resurrection, would be for all mankind for our redemption.

That’s incredibly wonderful. But here’s where it’s patient. When we talk about God’s gift to humanity of free-will we are talking about / / a very giant gift that requires a whole LOT of patience on God’s part. Imagine for a moment being the God of the universe, you’ve created humanity and you love them more than anything could ever express, and unconditionally, regardless of what they do, and yet, time and time again they consistently turn their backs on you.

Have you read the Old Testament? The story of Israel in the Old Testament is one of continual pursuit of God for the people he loves while they continually walk away, turn away, worship idols and false gods and follow the ways of other people.

And it’s no different on this side of the cross. Jesus gave his very life for us. God has given us everything and yet humanity chooses to live in sin, we choose to live apart from God. Now, imagining we are in God’s seat, you’re watching all of this and you know that if they continue in this way they will live an eternity separated from you. We’ve established, we can not separate our sin from ourselves. That’s not within our power. I can’t purchase my salvation. I can’t purchase my redemption through being good. This is 100% about me accepting the truth that I need a savior, and that Jesus is that savior.

But, that’s the point and the power of Free-Will. God does not make our choices for us. As I said last week, God is absolutely in control of himself, his actions, and his purposes toward us, but in the same we are in absolute control of our decision to accept, receive and walk in those purposes. / / God does not force a decision on us, that’s not love, that’s control.

Free-Will is absolutely the greatest expression of patience there ever has been and ever will be. God, knowing what’s best for us, chooses to not force it on us, but waits for us to decide. He waits for us to turn toward him.

/ / Do you know that God is patient with you?

No one made you get saved. You chose that in your own time. Yes, most likely by the revelation of His love and the recognition of your sin and his saving grace, but never the less, you chose salvation. It is by grace, the unmerited undeserved favor - the free give - THROUGH faith. You chose to believe.

In Exodus 34, Moses is on a mountain in the presence of God, and he’s brought two stone tablets for the covenant of God to be written on, and God speaks to him and says this: / / The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin...

That’s a lot of patience right there…merciful, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness...

This is the God who loves us. He is incredibly patient toward us, and toward all mankind. We beat ourselves up sometimes when we don’t get something as fast as we think we should, or we don’t understand something, but God..God is enduringly patient.

The apostle Peter says in 2 Peter 3:9, / / The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake.

/ / God’s patience has purpose!

And here’s what we need to know about God. God doesn’t have to force himself to be patient, it’s a part of his very character. God IS love and love IS patient - he doesn’t intend to be anything else.

So, the fact that we don’t get it all yet, we’re slow on the uptake as we would say, it’s ok, your God, the one with purpose and promise for your life is patiently waiting for you to choose to walk with him in that purpose and promise.

/ / 2. Patient with God?

Second question we’re asking is how do we love, or how are we patient with God?

That might seem like an odd question, what do we need to be patient with God about? But if we are meant to Love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and love is patient, then what does that mean for us in regards to being patient with God? What does that look like? Does God need our patience?

Well, think of this, if 2 Peter 3:9 says that the Lord isn’t being slow about his promises, but that he’s being patient for our sake, meaning, God will fulfill his promises in his time, the time He sees as best, then what if that’s not the time we want? What if we’d rather have it sooner, because, let’s be honest, we tend to be a little impatient… / / Is God being slow?

The bible tells us to ask and we will receive. To seek and we will find. To knock on the door and it will be opened.

So, / / What are you waiting for? - what have you been asking God to do?

healing, finances, salvation for friends or family, spiritual renewal, a new job, a fresh start, more understanding or wisdom...

/ / Is it taking longer than you want?

I think we all understand that, don’t we? I have definitely prayed for things and waited, wondering when God will come through. Even those times where I felt full of faith, there was no doubt in my mind at all that God was going to do something - except, it hasn’t happened yet. And if I’m honest, and my guess is, if we’re all honest, we identify more with the father from Mark 9, instead of the woman from Mark 5...

The Father in Mark 9 is this man who comes to Jesus with his son, and his son needs Jesus. The father explains that there’s a demon who torments him and throws him into violent seizures. And he says to Jesus, starting in Mark 9:22, / / “Have mercy on us and help us, if you can.” “What do you mean, ‘if I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.”

And this is where I sometimes identify more with this father. He looks at Jesus, and I assume with a kind of a sheepish, humble, hurting look on his face, and says, / / “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”

That might just be the most honest statement in the bible. The father is identifying that yes, he believes Jesus CAN, but he’s having trouble believing he WILL.

I’ve been there. I know God can deliver me, heal me, set me free, bless me, etc… and yet, sometimes I am left with the struggle of enduring in my patience to believe that He will. Am I patient with my faith? Do I waiver? And when I do, am I humble enough like this father and say, “Help me believe! Help me be patient in the process...”

Now, the woman - a few chapters earlier - quite different. She hears that Jesus is coming through town and Mark 5 tells us that she had been sick for many years. 12 years she had suffered from constant bleeding. She wasn’t getting better. No matter what she tried, spent all her money on doctors, she was only getting worse, and Mark 5:27 says, / / She had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his robe. For she thought to herself, “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.” Immediately the bleeding stopped, and she could feel in her body that she had been healed of her terrible condition.

That story inspires faith in others. I hadn’t even seen this until this past week, but, in the next chapter it says in Mark 6:56, / / Wherever he went - in villages, cities, or the countryside - they brought the sick out to the marketplaces. They begged him to let the sick touch at least the fringe of his robe, and all who touched him were healed.

/ / Immediately the bleeding stopped. When I pray for people to be healed, to receive healing from God, I am not praying they experience it some day in the future, I am hoping and believing God touches them in that very moment… But how many times have I identified with the father more often than I identified with the woman… Jesus, I do believe, but help my unbelief. And help me be patient when what is required is waiting.

If something doesn’t happen, we need to learn that doesn’t mean it isn’t going to and it doesn’t mean God is withholding. I can’t answer why things don’t happen immediately, there’s probably a million reasons with a million different outcomes, but what / / I do know is that if God can, it is an opportunity for us to believe that He will.

I know God CAN heal, so I continue to believe, and ask him to help me believe that He will. I am not content with doubt, and / / time is probably the greatest destroyer of faith. Don’t let the waiting discourage you - recognize that sometimes, the best way to love God is to endure in the time of waiting, because you are being patient, and love is patient. And it’s not up to me to decide how He will do what He will do or when He will do what He will do, it’s simply an opportunity for me to believe and be patient in the waiting, AND when I see Him moving, to take hold of the opportunity to act. I don’t sit back and just forget about it and if he does he does and if he doesn’t he doesn’t, no, I believe and I wait, and I watch, and I continue to pray and ask for insight, and wisdom and revelation.

This is the reason I have fallen in love with what we call the serenity prayer this past year. / / God, give me grace to accept with serenity the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

See, sometimes when we’re waiting for God to do something He’s actually been trying to show us what we’re meant to do, and sometimes we’re trying to do something that only He can do, and we are getting increasingly frustrated.

OK, so, God, help me, give me grace, the unmerited, undeserved favor - a gift of serenity, which is a calmness and confidence in the midst of struggle, to endure and be patient, and rely on YOU for things in my life I can’t do anything about. I’m 100% waiting for You to move! But in the areas I can do something, help me see that, give me the wisdom to know that this is something I can do, and then give me the courage to do it to the best of my ability!

/ / 3. …as yourself.

Man, this might be the hardest one. If love is patient, and the great commandment includes loving others AS we love ourselves, then the next thing we need to ask is, / / am I loving myself by being patient with myself?

How many would say that they can tend to be a little hard on themselves?

We have a saying, I’m my own worst enemy...

How many would say that they get a little frustrated with themselves when they don’t get it, or don’t follow through, or don’t complete something, or do as well as they thought they should, or a million other things we let ourselves down on or what we think we let others down on so we beat ourselves up for it...

And this ties in with what I was just saying about the serenity prayer and is critically important. / / Don’t mistaken being patient with being complacent. And don’t think that being patient is being ok with it not happening.

If patience is about endurance, than maybe it will take a long time, but you are meant to endure in strength.

Patience is saying, “Ya know what, I didn’t get it this time, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to give up. I'm going to press forward, even if it’s one step at a time when I wish it would have happened in leaps and bounds.”

Let’s just keep walking through the obvious. When I ended up in the hospital last year I was thrown completely off my game and since that point I have really struggled to find the rhythm I had before that when it comes to my health. Some areas have been easy, and some have been incredibly difficult. Do I give up and walk away? Of course not. Do I continue to look at my life, and continue to work at loving myself in patience and endurance because I know that even though it may feel like I’m walking through the valley of the shadow of death, and I don’t mean I’m dying, but I’m definitely dealing with what is trying to rob from my life… I keep walking forward. And some days that actually means one foot in front of the other asking God for the grace to endure. Every day ain’t perfect, but it sure is worth working towards that!

Ever met someone that said, “Well, that’s just how I am, take it or leave it...”

What if an addict took that approach. / / “Phew! Finally, someone told me this is a disease…that takes a load off. I’m just suffering from a disease and can’t do anything about it. Cool. Back to drinking, shooting up, binging etc....”

No, of course not. The recognition that you can’t do anything about something doesn’t give us the permission to be ok with it - it gives us permission to stop fighting what we’ve been fighting so we can rely on God in a way that only GOD can move.

This is the reality of living in the earth with a fallen nature, with a sinful nature, with a body that isn’t perfect, with a mind that isn’t perfect, with a heart that hurts, and feels and twists and struggles.

Don’t take the recognition that something just comes naturally to you as permission, or that it is ok for that thing to be in your life.

It may just be the thorn in your flesh that God wants to meet you in with His grace!

Paul says in Romans 7, I don’t know why I do the things I don’t want to do, why I seem to be unable to do the things I know I should do… We think these apostles in the bible got it right all the time. Think again. John Wimber, who started the Vineyard church movement, said, “Never trust a leader without a limp.”

And if you come home and you’ve failed completely at something you are trying to do. Patience does NOT say, “That’s ok, don’t worry about it, someone else will do it...” or “maybe that’s just not for you...” or “Ya know what, I kinda knew I wasn’t going to be able to do that anyways, I guess I shouldn’t bother...”

No. Patience says, “Don’t beat yourself up, remember, you’re more than a conqueror IN CHRIST, you are strong, you are courageous, you can do this. It may take longer than you thought, longer than you want, more effort than you wanted to put in and more than you even feel like you have to give, BUT, ENDURE! Be faithful. Be patient in the process.”

Whether that is in the waiting for God to act, or the acting on what God has shown you to do.

Don’t give up on yourself.

Chip Judd, who is a speaker up in South Carolina said once, / / “...we tend to overestimate what can happen in a short period of time, and underestimate what can happen in a long period of time...”

Overestimating what can happen in a short period of time sets us up for failure and disappointment

Underestimating what can happen in a long period of time means we end up quitting before the payoff comes.

Ever feel like this guy? / / ***Winnie The Pooh***

We tend to want instant results from minimal effort instead of consistent results that produce lasting change!

Listen, I get it, change isn’t easy. And it’s way more difficult than we make it sound in a sermon or all of the inspirational tik-tok, youtube, instagram story videos where we all feel pumped up because someone just told us we can do it...

We have to remember that / / change is a process, not an event. The word / / suddenly - meaning it happened quickly or immediately - is in the bible 41 times…but the phrase, / / It shall come to pass - meaning there was a process - is in the bible 450 times.

Part of learning to be patient with ourselves, which, as we have defined is loving ourselves, and that’s part of the greatest commandment in scripture, is learning to wait patiently on the Lord. It’s asking for grace to endure and be patient through our faith in Him in all the areas of our lives and this world we can’t do anything about, and in the courage we receive from Him to endure and continue to work towards the change we can produce in our lives, through His encouragement, strength and direction. This is why Jesus says in Matthew 6:25,33, / / This is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life…Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

Stop being hard on yourself and start being patient with yourself.

Give yourself a break. Don’t beat yourself up for the things you haven’t got yet, the things you haven’t learned yet, the failures you tend to carry in your back pocket. Today is a great day to let those things go, and start fresh. If God’s mercies are new everyday, then maybe you need to be merciful to yourself starting today too!

/ / 4. Love your neighbor...

Alright, here’s the big one. This is kind of where the rubber meets the road - most sermons on patience probably jump straight to this point. How patient are you with others?

But there’s two really important things when it comes to love.

We read this last week, how did the homework go, reading 1 John 4:7-21?

The first thing we have to remember when it comes to talking about loving other people is that - / / Loving others doesn’t start with us loving others - it starts with us learning how to RECEIVE love. 1 John 4:19 says, / / We love each other because he loved us first.

The more I receive of God’s love the more I learn how to truly love.

Second thing we need to remember is what Jesus said the greatest commandment is, and we just looked at, / / Love your neighbor AS YOURSELF.

If you don’t love yourself it’s very difficult to love others effectively. 1 John 4:8 says / / …anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. And loving ourselves can be one of the hardest things to get. But, if you don’t love yourself don’t worry, the solution is simple, it’s letting God love you more, it’s learning to receive His love. Understanding how God is patient shows us how we are meant to be patient, with ourselves and with others.

But let’s ask the obvious question here… / / What does it mean to be patient with others?

ok, let’s get super practical here this morning, because the reality is, we want to love others, it’s what we’re called to, so we need to know what that looks like.

/ / Patient is defined as, able to accept or tolerate delays, problems, or suffering without becoming annoyed or anxious.

Tim Hawkins, who is a Christian comedian tweeted back in 2013, / / “Whoever wrote the song ‘Easy Like Sunday Morning’ didn’t take his kids to church on a regular basis.”

We all know what it’s like to need patience for other people. Parents have a constant reminder. Spouses probably wouldn’t argue the fact that they’ve waited at least a few times for their significant other. We all have the friend that thinks fashionably late is the way to be.

Here’s the simple truth: / / Patience is probably one of the most important, and most lacking virtues in most of our relationships.

That’s not a statistic. I don’t have science to back me up here. Just my observations of relationships. See, Patience is not simply the ability to wait for someone…NO… that’s not patience. / / True “love is patient type of patience” is the ability to still be happy while you wait for someone.

True Biblical, God centered, Loving like Jesus Patience is not being bent out of shape while we’re waiting. It’s not getting angry. It’s not loosing our cool. And that’s a great saying - because if we’ve lost our cool, if we’ve lost something in the process, it’s a good indication we’ve probably lost love in that moment too.

"But that sounds impossible Pastor Rob.”

Yup, we’re talking about love. Remember, Jesus said no greater love is there than someone who is willing to lay down their life for their friends. Yes, he’s talking physically, but really, he’s calling us into a place of sacrificial love. I mean, let’s just look at that definition for a second, again.

First, the greek work, / / makrothymeo, and it means to be long spirited, forbearing or patient, to bear, or suffer, for a long time, to have patience, to be patient, to patiently endure, to not lose heart.

And then our english definition, / / Patient - able to accept or tolerate delays, problems, or suffering without becoming annoyed or anxious.

Some of us might need to employ the 5-second rule again. Ya know, stop, count to five before you respond, say something, do something...

*PRAY* God, give me the grace to accept with serenity the fact that this family is trying my patience...

OK, Where is this going to creep up?

/ / We could be waiting physically...

You’re literally waiting for your wife or husband, kids, friends, co-workers etc… They’re not ready on time, they are late to the restaurant, or they are making you late...

/ / We could be waiting emotionally...

Ever felt like you’re waiting for someone to grow up, act their age, heal, fix themselves, to act more mature, to put themselves together etc…

And sometimes this hits more than one area:

If you’ve seen the movie Elf, arguably the greatest Christmas movie that’s not about Baby Jesus, in the last scene when Michael is reading from Santa’s list, he reads the reports wish - “Charlotte Denin wants a tiffany engagement ring and for her boyfriend to stop dragging his feet and commit already…!”

That’s waiting for someone emotionally AND physically!

/ / We could be waiting spiritually...

You’re waiting for God to do something in your life. Waiting for breakthrough. Waiting for change, revelation, wisdom, insight, healing, favor, peace, serenity because this sermon is totally triggering you!

Maybe you’re waiting for a spouse or a friend to encounter the love of God so you can share in that relationship together.

All of these areas require patience, and I’m going to say it again - by definition patience is / / the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble or suffering without getting annoyed or anxious.

Ephesians 4:1 says, / / I [Paul] beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each others faults because of your love.

Interesting way to interpret the calling of God for our lives. Lead a life worthy of your calling because you HAVE been called… called to what? to be humble, and gentle, be patient and make allowance for other people’s faults…why? Because of your love!

But it makes sense though, right? The calling for all of us as Christians is to be a follower of Jesus, and he said in John 13:35, / / Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.

That calling, love, patience, making allowance for people’s faults.... it shows that you’re a true follower of Jesus.

TD Jakes said, / / We want everyone else to show us grace for our journey while we expect everyone else to be fixed immediately...

Patience itself takes work. The change of becoming a patient person takes patience! And change is a process, not an event. It may take some time for you to get used to it, to get good at it. You might have to work at it, remind yourself, remind yourself again, remind yourself again, “I’m patient now....ok, I’m working at being more patient now...” If you want the life that God has for you, another way of saying that He’s called you to something, then you can’t just sit back and wait for it to happen, you have to take responsibility for your life and be honest with God and say, “God, I’ve not been the most patient of people, please help me...” AND THEN you do your absolute best in working at being a patient person!

Another great movie moment. We were watching Evan Almighty the other night and there’s this really great scene where God, played by Morgan Freeman is talking to Evan’s wife in a restaurant - she’s on her way taking her kids to her mothers because she’s not convinced by this whole, “God told me to build an Ark...” thing.... and she says, “…my husband says God told him to do it. What do you do with that?”

And this is pretty brilliant - God says, “Sounds like an opportunity. Let me ask you something: If someone prays for patience, do you think God gives them patience? Or does he give them the opportunity to be patient? If they prayed for courage, does God give them courage or does he give them opportunities to be courageous? If someone prayed for their family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does he give them opportunities to love each other?”

1 John 3:18 says, / / …let’s not merely say we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.

It’s good to say we love each other. And we should say it. But more importantly, we need to act that love out. Be patient. Show your patience toward people by physically, spiritually and emotionally getting better at being patient. Calm yourself, take a minute to breath, say a prayer, ask God for His love and His patience, forgive the person for being late, recognize if you have a bad habit of being late yourself and maybe there’s some spiritual dynamic at work of sowing and reaping. Recognize if maybe there’s an expectation that people are going to be late, and ask God to reveal to you why you expect that and is there a pattern He wants to break?

Remember a few weeks ago we talked through a couple simple words, / / Always & Never.

Here’s a sentence maybe you’ve heard, and maybe you’ve said.... “ughhh… they’re always late…” “You’re never on time…” “I feel like I’m always waiting for you...” Maybe it’s time to forgive, to ask forgiveness, to repent for making judgements against people and getting rid of the spiritual dynamic at play so that you can learn to be more patient.

If you don’t remember, or want a bit of a walk through in this, go to our YouTube channel and watch / / “He Restores My Soul” from our Transformed Life series, that message was March 27th. Seriously. Do some homework. Work at these things. Deal with the things that get in the way of you having the life God wants you to have. / / Don’t let impatience rob you from truly loving your family and friends!

Maybe you need to stop and think before you speak, employ that 5-second rule - count to 5 before you open your mouth.

Proverbs 15:18 says, / / A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger quiets contention!

You are powerful! By your actions you can stir up MORE of all that anxious and restlessness, OR you can quiet the contention!

Rarely is the mood ever made better by my frenzied and hot-tempered comments and actions when I’ve been waiting for someone and we’re rushing out the door! It almost always just makes things worse - even if it’s just for me - ruining my morning / day / moment.

I’m not saying we don’t encourage our kids to exercise better time management skills or move a little quicker when the need arises. I think we all know what I’m talking about here. Remember, patience isn’t learning to simply wait, it’s the ability to still be happy while you wait.

Ok, I want to leave you with some practical benefits of learning to be a more patient person - to inspire you to pursue a life of loving more like Jesus does.

/ / Patient people enjoy better mental health

A study from Fuller Theological Seminary noted that patient people tend to experience less depression and negative emotions, perhaps because they can cope better with upsetting or stressful situations. They also rate themselves more grateful and more connected to the world around them.

/ / Patient people are better friends and neighbors

This might seem obvious, but patience shows love. The friend who comforts you instead of gets annoyed with your situation becomes a closer friend. Patient people tend to be more cooperative, more empathetic, more equitable and more forgiving.

/ / Patience helps us achieve our goals

Remember, change is a process, not an event. Whatever it is in your life you are wanting to accomplish, one of the biggest contributing factors will be if you have the patience to endure. Remember, we tend to overestimate what can happen in a short period of time and underestimate what can happen in a long period of time.

Be patient with yourself in the process.

Be patient in your waiting, in your faith.

Be patient with those who are involved in the process with you.

/ / Patience is linked to good health

We all want good health! In a study conducted in 2007 they actually found that patient people are less likely to report health problems like headaches, acne flair-ups, ulcers, diarrhea and pneumonia and that people who exhibited impatience and irritability tended to have more health complaints and worse sleep.

So, I want to leave you with this today...

/ / God is patient with you.

it’s actually part of His loving you and something you can experience - ask God to reveal to you HOW he has been and is patient toward you.

We love because He loved us first - make this priority in your life - to pursue the love of God, to ask him, pray, ask, seek, knock, take time to allow God to love you. Even if it’s just a few minutes a day, or when you’re alone in your car, just some moments throughout your day, “God, let me feel your love… How are you patient toward me?”

/ / Are you being patient with God?

I know, it may seem odd still, but how do I respond when I think He’s taking too long? Where is my faith at? Where is my patience to endure as I pray and believe for God to move in my life?

/ / Are you learning to be patient with yourself?

Do you demand more of yourself than you should and is it time to be a little more understanding with yourself? Stop being your worst critic and start being your greatest advocate!

/ / How are you doing with being patient with the people in your life, the people at the grocery store, the line at the gas station, the people in the round-about?

If we truly want to love like Jesus loves us, which is what HE said his new commandment for us was, love each other JUST AS I have loved you, the world will know you’re my disciples by how you love each other - then we truly need to learn to be patient.