- Joined
- Oct 26, 2007
- Messages
- 12,544
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 1 Corinthians 13:4-5
Some men are just plain grouchy. They’re easily irritated and quick to respond negatively. Far from “keeping no record of being wronged,” they keep detailed mental tabs of the times people step on their toes. They may overlook an offense once or twice, but keep repeating it and they write you off.
If you do this to others, you may feel justified in having such an attitude, arguing that you can’t go through life being a doormat. Or you may reason, “This is just the way I am, rough and unvarnished—like it or leave it.” What then did God intend when He inspired the apostle Paul to pen the above verse?
Paul was no pushover. When he needed to speak out for what was right, he stood up boldly and refused to back down. He opposed the Judaizers in Antioch and engaged in a heated argument with them. He even publicly rebuked Peter, leader of the Jerusalem church (Acts 15:1-2; Galatians 2:11-14). But Paul wasn’t defending his personal rights in such cases, much less a wounded ego. When it came to offenses against himself, Paul was longsuffering.
Longsuffering love means precisely that: love that suffers (puts up with someone) for a long time. May God give you such love.
Some men are just plain grouchy. They’re easily irritated and quick to respond negatively. Far from “keeping no record of being wronged,” they keep detailed mental tabs of the times people step on their toes. They may overlook an offense once or twice, but keep repeating it and they write you off.
If you do this to others, you may feel justified in having such an attitude, arguing that you can’t go through life being a doormat. Or you may reason, “This is just the way I am, rough and unvarnished—like it or leave it.” What then did God intend when He inspired the apostle Paul to pen the above verse?
Paul was no pushover. When he needed to speak out for what was right, he stood up boldly and refused to back down. He opposed the Judaizers in Antioch and engaged in a heated argument with them. He even publicly rebuked Peter, leader of the Jerusalem church (Acts 15:1-2; Galatians 2:11-14). But Paul wasn’t defending his personal rights in such cases, much less a wounded ego. When it came to offenses against himself, Paul was longsuffering.
Longsuffering love means precisely that: love that suffers (puts up with someone) for a long time. May God give you such love.
