The Flagship of Patience

“Love is patient.”
I Corinthians 13:4

Paul presents patience as the premier expression of love. Positioned at the head of the apostle’s Love Armada—a boat-length or two in front of kindness, courtesy, and forgiveness—the flagship known as patience. “Love is patient.”

The Greek word used here for patience is a descriptive one. It figuratively means “taking a long time to boil.” Think about a pot of boiling water. What factors determine the speed at which it boils? The size of the stove? No. The pot? The utensil may have an influence, but the primary factor is the intensity of the flame. Water boils quickly when the flame is high. It boils slowly when the flame is low. Patience “keeps the burner down.”

Helpful clarification, don’t you think? Patience isn’t naïve. It doesn’t ignore misbehavior. It just keeps the flame low. It waits. It listens. It’s slow to boil. This is how God treats us. And, according to Jesus, this is how we should treat others.

1 of 365 devotionals in Grace for the Moment, Volume 2
Originally printed in A Love Worth Giving

Mirrored:

I am an impatient person. I hate to wait and so I tend to leave home at the nick of time for an appointment. Sometimes I make it on time, sometimes not. I was just not born to wait.

It is a good thing though that I have another not-so-good attitude that somehow refrains me from rushing in to things – being a no-risk-taker. Though those attitudes seem to balance each other out, I know that that is not how it suppose to work. And so I ask you God to be patient in polishing me more.