Patient Love

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

(1 Corinthians 13:4-5)

If you’ve ever attended a wedding, chances are you heard the pastor read from 1 Corinthians 13. This must be one of the most frequently quoted passages of scripture on the topic of love. The whole passage is incredibly rich, and worth sustained study, but I want to hone in on the concept of patient love for the purpose of my musings today.

What does this mean for our lives? What does patient love look like? The bible shows us snapshots of patient love in action. We see patient love embodied in the father of the Prodigal son as he waits every day at the gate for his lost boy, and in Ruth’s sacrificial devotion to a bitter mother-in-law. A patient love endures beyond circumstances and without regard to time. This is a concept that is hard for us to wrap our heads around in the age of 2-second downloads, instant communication via email/text/twitter, and the drive-thru. We aren’t patient these days because we don’t have to be.

But when it comes to love, value lies not in immediacy but in depth and duration. True love might be immediately felt, but most importantly, it must stand the test of time and trials. In order to love well, we must love patiently. This means bearing with the faults of others and loving them anyway—repeatedly.

It was the perfect and patient love of Christ that prompted his response to the rich young ruler (Mark 10: 17-21) and his gentle reinstatement of Peter on the shores of the Sea of Tiberias (John 21: 15-19).

Christ’s charge to us is kind, but clear: “I have loved you patiently, now will you go and do the same?” I am deeply humbled when I think of my reluctance to be patient with others after daily receiving undeserved grace from our infinitely patient savior.

My prayer is that we might always keep this passage in mind as we seek relate to others with the love of Christ, whose patient love provokes us to love likewise.

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

(1 Corinthians 13:7-8)