Patient | I Corinthians 13:4
Love is patient . . .
Love is patient and it leads to being kind.
Being patient is a virtue because it leads us up to living better. Better living is needed for us all. What do I mean by better living? If you have been living a life where you are impatient in the house, in the car, in the community and/or at work, you know how it is “troubling” you. A better quality of life requires that we practice patience more often.
Impatient behavior, thoughts and feelings leave us drained of good, positive ways of interacting with those people and activities we say we love. Have we ever really enjoyed ourselves when we have been impatient in the car? Think about that for 1 minute. Literally think about that (being impatient in the car) for 60 seconds.
How successful were you in that simple exercise of patience? For us to do well in practicing this standard of living we need inside and outside help. The inside help is the Holy Ghost, for patience or longsuffering is part of the Fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23). And the outside help may involve professional counseling. Many of us will come to learn that our impatient ways are rooted in some things we just simply refuse to acknowledge and correct within ourselves.
Being patient will save us from our selfish ways. Oh, didn’t you catch that? Impatience is mainly about, “how can they be in my way, don’t they know I’m in a hurry?” We need to get over self-centered ways. “It ain’t about you.”
Love leads us to prefer others.
Patience is loving . . .