5is not provoked, [simple_tooltip content=’1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.
2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.
4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;
5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;
6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;
7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.
9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part.
10 But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.
11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.
13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.’](1 Corinthians 13:1-13)[/simple_tooltip]
During a week-long meeting in a church of about 600 people, I taught on God’s grace and long-suffering toward us, and many were set free. However, the pastor would lead praise and worship each night and then would conspicuously walk down the aisle and right out of the church. It was obvious he didn’t like what he was hearing at all.
I tried to balance everything so that no one would think I was encouraging sinful living, but the pastor didn’t stay for the messages. The last night of the meeting, I was desperate to penetrate his rejection of the teaching. He led a song that talked about how we should be loving and long-suffering toward others, forgiving them even before they ask for forgiveness. This was a song he wrote.
Before he left the platform, I asked him if he really believed what he sang. I asked if that principle applied even to those who treated us badly over and over. He was adamant that we should always forgive in all circumstances. Then I said, “Isn’t it strange that some people believe God expects them to behave with more love toward others than they believe He shows them?” He got the point.
Another test of whether or not we are walking in God’s kind of love is how patient we are. God’s love is always patient. As true as this is with our dealings with others, it’s even more true of God’s dealings with us. God will not instruct us to do something that He is unwilling to do. God is not easily provoked. He’s not the one with a short fuse. Many people think God is short-tempered, but that isn’t the truth.
Meditate on God’s long-suffering love for you, and let Him show you how patiently He loves you today.
