Love is Patient

By Hayley Boud

I Corinthians 13:4
The dictionary definition of patience is:
1. Calm endurance under hardship, inconvenience, delay
2. Perseverance

“Calm endurance under hardship”
Being calm under pressure isn’t always easy. When we go through hard or difficult times we prefer to complain or even we can sometimes panic or freak out. for eg. When I got sick in 2002, it was right before my final exams. I was supposed to sit my genetics exam and I really wanted to because my course work mark wasn’t that great and I knew my exam mark would boost it up since I am better at exams than assignments. I was too sick to sit the exam so I applied for special circumstances but I was denied. Although I had been in hospital it wasn’t enough so I appealed and was denied again with a letter saying that was my last chance and there would be no more opportunity to appeal.

At that point I had two choices:
1. complain against God and grumble or
2. maintain calm endurance under hardship.

I actually wanted to freak out but I chose to remain calm and this proved to God that I loved Him because I was patient. So when we go through difficult times, just remember it’s only a test and God just wants to see how much we love Him and how much we remain calm and patient.

I chose not to give up and I went to a specialist who wrote a letter on my behalf and after six months I was given the grade. So I was patient for six months.

Sometimes we have to be patient for much longer. I heard of a Christian man who was in prison for 19 years before finally he was found not guilty. He had to be patient. He had to remain calm under hardship.

“Inconvenience”
Sounds pretty minor. When I go to the supermarket and the checkout lady is talking too much to the person in front of me and I am “inconvenienced”, I have to show patience. It sounds so pathetic but actually, it’s these little things that can be the hardest to overcome. I get really annoyed when that happens and once I’m annoyed, I can easily sin. But if I love, it’s very difficult to be inconvenienced.

I’m inconvenienced when the kids come inside with dirty shoes after I’ve just vacuumed or they put their fingers all over the glass window after I’ve just washed it but because of love, I must keep calm and I must be patient.

The Greek word for patient is Makrothumia which means forbearance, long suffering. The person who has the power to avenge himself, yet refrains.

Makros = long
Thumos = passon
*A long holding of the mind before it gives room to action.
(E.g. hold your tongue for 10 seconds before replying.)

This week I’ve had a test and I wanted to become angry but I held my tongue. After that my thoughts took over and I had a choice to dwell on it or to resolve it. The person told me to stop talking so I decided to stop talking and never to talk to that person again. I wanted to punish them but I was the one being punished.

We have to praise God when we have the victory and we manage self-control and we control our tongues but we must also control our thoughts because if we don’t they can take us far away. Because love is patient, it means someone can hurt us but we will forgive them not only once but 7 x 77 which pretty much means we must never stop forgiving. This is patience, when you have to carry on loving the person even when they don’t change.