Love is Patient

Life is a marathon, not a sprint. This means we have to balance, prioritize, and pace ourselves. Sometimes we think we need something right now! If we are not careful, we can allow the pressures of life to consume us, causing us to be tied up in knots and ready to "snap”.  Not walking in patience will tear at our relationships, especially those that are the closest to us. Unfortunately the very ones we love the most are sometimes the very ones we take our frustrations out on!

The Bible teaches us to let love guide our relationships instead of stress, worry and anxiety. 1 Corinthians 13:7 in the Amplified Bible says “Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything without weakening.”   Love thinks before it speaks and responds instead of just “reacting”.  Leonard Ravenhill once said ‘Think before you speak…think twice and you may not speak at all”.  The next time you feel the pressure of the circumstances of life and you want to quickly react and take it out on someone close to you, slow down and think…what would love do?  How would love respond?  1 Corinthians 13:6 in the Amplified says, “Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on it’s own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it (it pays no attention to a suffered wrong)."

When you are irritable, the heart of the problem is a problem of the heart.  Jesus said, “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matt. 12:34).  Some people are like lemons; when life squeezes them, they pour out a sour response.  Some are more like peaches; when the pressure is on, the result is still sweet!

So you say, Ok…how do I do that?  First of all, fill your heart with God’s Word. The next time you get squeezed, let the Word of God come out of you instead of your own fleshly emotions. Secondly, slow down and spend some time in God’s presence every day.  A few minutes with the Lord is worth more than hours of earthly counseling!  Perfect direction from the Holy Spirit brings such supernatural peace. This doesn’t mean you will never have a battle, but you will go through it with perfect peace, because the Prince of peace is with you!  Thirdly, allow your life to become de-cluttered. Bring order into your life. God is not the author of confusion. Many people live impatient and frustrated lives simply because they are living “at life”, instead of taking hold of life and living out the purpose God has for them!