The first thing we see in verse 4 of 1 Corinthians 13 is that “Love endures long and is patient and kind.”
You might say “What? Are you serious? I am way past ‘patient’ in this marriage and as far as ‘kind’ is concerned, when was the last time he was kind to me?” Yeah, this scripture sounds great printed in beautiful calligraphy and framed on my wall in my house, but actually doing it? That’s a whole different matter!
Patience has to be developed. It doesn’t just come overnight. Maybe you have children. Do you remember as just an infant how inpatient they became if they didn’t have food right away? But hopefully they don’t stay that way. You teach them to develop their patience and wait for their food to be prepared and served. What would you think to see your grown child drive up to a restaurant and just start crying and screaming for food? As foolish as this is to imagine, we have at times become so impatient with our husbands, we don’t even try to put any restraint on it.
It takes renewing your mind with the Word of God to help you develop patience. It takes reminding yourself of what He gave to you already when His Son died for you. Look at Romans 15:5 (Amplified):
Now may the God Who gives the power of patient endurance (steadfastness) and Who supplies encouragement, grant you to live in such mutual harmony and such full sympathy with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus.
You must remind yourself of what our Heavenly Father gave us: the power of patient endurance and encouragement. “Thank you Father for giving me the patience to deal with this situation and the endurance to handle other situations that arise so that I may live in mutual harmony with my husband. Thank you for supplying me with encouragement as I am led by the Holy Spirit in this situation.”
© 2011 Michelle Serna
