“4
Charity suffers long, and is kind; charity envies not; charity brags not
itself, is not puffed up, 5 Does not behave itself unseemly, seeks not her own,
is not easily provoked, thinks no evil; 6 Rejoices not in iniquity, but
rejoices in the truth; 7 Bears all things, believes all things, hopes all
things, endures all things.”
It is hard to read this text without thinking of “being
loving” but that's not the point. Here
love is a noun representing God's nature in us...THINK “the opposite of our sin
nature”. This passage likely brought
shame to the Corinthians because they realized their behavior had been just the
opposite. Each of the qualities listed
were indictments on a particular way they had lived as a church. Would you want to be told you were just going thru religious motions
which in essence amounted to NOTHING?
To be patient literally means “long suffering” or “to have a
long fuse”. Patiently endure the
misfortunes, troubles, offenses and injuries of others without losing heart,
being slow in avenging yourself, slow to anger, slow to punish or repay
offenses. Patience is a challenge because
we all strongly desire to have a trouble-free life.
How do we view patience
in God? (Ps. 86:15) It is God's right and
duty to punish sin immediately...and yet, He does not. Without being unjust or ignoring sin, God
forbears sin on the basis of Christ's work.
Instead of punishing His creation for their sin, God remarkably punished
Himself.
So what does this teach us
about patience? We often view patience
as if it is for “self”... “Lord give me patience”...BUT it's not about
you! Patience
helps you get over yourself so you can see past your own nose. Patience helps you position yourself in
someone's life so you can help them change.
A patient person finds ways to deal with sin which allow God lots of
time to change hearts and bring about such things as repentance, forgiveness
and reconciliation. Exercising patience
shows we trust God's control rather than our own. Exercising patience shows we are grateful God
didn't immediately wipe us out for our sin.
Kindness means
“mild” and is all about how we treat others.
It is a mild, pleasant, concerned disposition which produces good and
charitable behavior. People more often
view kindness as self-interested politeness.
Being nice to manipulate others into giving you what you want or letting
you control them. Many pretend to be
nice while hiding hatred, anger or frustration.
Some even view people pleasing as a form of kindness...just give in, not
rock the boat, fear. BUT, kindness is
first a heart attitude before it ever becomes an action. What do we learn about kindness from God? (Eph. 2:1-7)
We need to learn to point out what is sin while kindly
pointing people to God's solution...JESUS.
So what does this teach us about kindness? In Romans 2:4 we see that kindness has a
purpose or goal...repentance (A changed mind that agrees with God). It is God's goodness or kindness which
softens hearts and brings repentance.
It is important to remember God's truth
is always involved...kindness never leaves out truth. Kindness is something which sinful hearts do
not expect. Jesus often surprised people
by responding kindly and gracefully toward them. God uses kindness to soften stony hearts (2
Tim. 2:24-26).
So how does God deal with our impatience and harshness? The answer is not try harder. Here are some ways we can pursue repentance
over our failures.
1. Trust the work Jesus already did...Believe the
Gospel/Holy Spirit
2. Read and pray over Scriptures which deal with these
traits – renew mind
3. Get help from the church body – accountability
You'll never change until you allow
Christ's church to do life with you every day!
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