“Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not conceited, does not act improperly, is not selfish, is not provoked, and does not keep a record of wrongs. Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Hcsb Bible
My previous study was on friends and this one will be on dating relationships and we honestly could apply these to any of our relationships. This will be focusing on this passage and how we should love our neighbors and especially the ones that we decide to date.
So has anyone ever been inpatient and wanted something right at this current moment? If you’re anything like me, you probably have at one point. It could be that you were waiting in line for your order at a restaurant and it was taking too long, or in line to use the restroom. Obviously most of us have experienced one of these these at some point so we understand this feeling.
The problem with this is that when we become impatient, then we start to show our ugly side. We might start getting anxious and start insulting the restaurant or the person in the bathroom thinking that they can’t hear us so we can vent that frustration. Most likely though, someone else is watching or hears you. Then your words get to someone else that knows you and knows your a Christian or is the person that you were insulting.
At best, no one hears you and you go on with your life. At worst, someone hears of your terribly hypocritical words and then turns their back on God forever because of the ruined testimony of a so called “Christian” which means ‘like Christ’.
This impatience can show up in our relationships as well. For some, it will come out when the other person doesn’t do exactly what needs to be done to make you happy or they are wanting to have sex before marriage even though you are wanting to wait till after marriage for that sacred act. The other person can get angry and yell or just start getting sarcastic remarks that can degrade the other person but then cover it up by saying that they’re ‘just joking’.
Be aware of this impatience for it can and will cause arguments in the future and cause you to be miserable in the future. Now is it ok if it happens once or twice? Yes in some instances since we are all sinners, but when it becomes a pattern and shows itself on a regular basis, you need to run from someone that has this impatience and doesn’t show grace and patience towards you. This is key in your friendships and your dating relationships.
The reason why we need to be patient in all of our relationships is because it’s what was modeled and continues to be modeled in our own lives by Christ. In the Bible, Jesus repeatedly was patient with his disciples when they were either asking beginner level questions and should be more mature in the faith or were contesting with each other about which of them was the greatest even though none of them could get to heaven without Jesus Christ himself.
Jesus was patient with his disciples and he’s patient with us. He could destroy us and take us out the moment we sinned and he would be in his authority to do that. He even is patient with us when we constantly do the same sin time after time after time. He has more reason to take us out than we do to get angry at another human because he’s perfect and righteous and we’re sinners needing his forgiveness just to live. We have no room to talk really.
So how do we become patient with our friends, family and dating relationships? Well it’s going to be hard. I’m not going to sugarcoat it.
We first need to realize that we are sinners and have our own faults and so is the other person were interacting with. Then we need to implement James 1:19 which says to be quick to listen and slow to speak and slow to anger. When we are being impatient, we need to stop and try to listen to the other person or take a step back and think of why the other person might be doing whatever it is that’s making you impatient.
If we do this, then we start to learn how to be patient since we will understand how they are doing in life.
So at the end of the day, be patient, be forgiving in your friendships, family and dating relationships because if God can love and be patient with us, we should try our best to be patient with our fellow sinners.
Thank you for reading this. If you have any questions or comments, just comments below or message me. I hope you have a fantastic day.
The Bible Life 