“Love is patient.”

1 Corinthians 13:4

Here is take two of my first installment of the Love Jam series…the first take had no va-va-va voom! Somehow in the translation between my brain and the screen, the concepts I wanted to convey turned into greeting card sentiments. I’ll have to be careful to avoid that as I work through this series.

Here we go! And-a-one, and-a-two….

Maxima enim, patientia virtus — Patience is the greatest virtue. I tend to agree, because it is one of the most difficult to cultivate; yet properly executed, patience can reap tremendous rewards. The problem is we hate it. We hate being patient. We would rather focus on another virtue, like courage, or justice, or hope, or charity. Something glamorous, something people could admire. Patience isn’t glamorous. “Hey buddy, whatcha up to there?” “Oh nothing. I’m just being patient.” “Oookay. Good luck wit dat.”

Patience can also be translated from the Greek as “longsuffering” — and sometimes it certainly feels that way! You see, patience necessarily implies lack. You are waiting for something that you do not yet have in your possession, or you are waiting for an event that has not yet occurred.

You are lacking. And when humans lack, humans fight back.

James 4:1-3 puts it this way:

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.

I think there’s a key here. Maybe when I’m having a hard time being patient, it’s because I’m allowing my passions to be at war within me. I’m asking for the wrong thing — my will be done, not Thy will be done. I should be passionate about the things that matter to God — the work He wants to accomplish in me and through me. Rather than bang my head against the wall because of what I lack, I should be cheerfully preparing to receive whatever He wants to give me in its proper time.

“And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 4:19

Amen to that! God knows what I need even better than I know myself, so I desire to do whatever it takes to become ready for His supply to meet my needs, supernaturally!

There’s more to say about being patient, particularly in the context of love (which is what this series is all about!), so I’ll continue on that riff in my next post. Catch you then!