[Faith-talk] FW: [thefamilyoffaith] A Love Worth Giving

[Eric Calhoun]

Original Message: 
From: "Joe Diaz" <revjoe2701 at comcast.net>
To: "ZZZZZ  Group  -   Masters List" <masterslist at yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [thefamilyoffaith] A Love Worth Giving
Date: 
Thu, 28 Apr 2011 10:54:08 -0700 (Pacific Daylight Time)

Love is Patient

 

By Max Lucado

 

Love is Patient (1 Corinthians 13:4)

 

Patience is the red carpet upon which God's grace approaches us.

 

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 naive. 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.

 

He once told a parable about a king who decides to settle his accounts
with
his debtors. His bookkeeper surfaces a fellow who owes not thousands or
hundreds of thousands but millions of dollars. The king summarily declares
that the man and his wife and kids are to be sold to pay the debt. Because
of his inability to pay, the man is about to lose everything and everyone
dear to him. No wonder "the man fell down before the king and begged him, 
Oh, sir, be patient with Me, and I will pay it all." (Matt. 18:26-27 NLT,
emphasis mine)

 

The word patience makes a surprise appearance here. The debtor does not
plead for mercy or forgiveness; he pleads for patience. Equally curious is
this singular appearance of the word. Jesus uses it twice in this story
and
never again. Jesus reserves the word for one occasion to make one point.
Patience is more than a virtue for long lines and slow waiters. Patience
is
the red carpet upon which God's grace approaches us.

 

Had there been no patience, there would have been no mercy. But the king
was
patient, and the man with the multimillion-dollar debt was forgiven. But
then the story takes a left turn. The freshly forgiven fellow makes a
beeline from the courthouse to the suburbs. There he searches out a guy
who
owes him some money.

 

"But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him
a
few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant
payment. His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little
more time. "Be patient and I will pay it," he pleaded. But his creditor
wouldn't wait. He had the man arrested and jailed until the debt could be
paid in full." (vv. 28-30 NLT, emphasis mine)

 

The king is stunned. How could the man be so impatient? How dare the man
be
so impatient! The ink of the CANCELED stamp is still moist on the man's
bills. Wouldn't you expect a little Mother Teresa-ness out of him? You'd
think that a person who'd been forgiven so much would love much. But he
didn
t. And his lack of love led to a costly mistake. The unforgiving servant
is
called back to the castle. "Then the angry king sent the man to prison
until
he had paid every penny" (Matt. 18:34 NLT).

 

Whew! We sigh. Glad that story is a parable. It's a good thing God
doesn't
imprison the impatient in real life. Don't be so sure he doesn't.
Self-absorption and ingratitude make for thick walls and lonely jails.

 

Impatience still imprisons the soul. For that reason, our God is quick to
help us avoid it. He does more than demand patience from us; he offers it
to
us. Patience is a fruit of his Spirit. It hangs from the tree of
Galatians
5:22: "The Spirit produces the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience." Have
you asked God to give you some fruit? Well I did once, but . But what? Did
you, h'm, grow impatient? Ask him again and again and again. He won't grow
impatient with

Your pleading, and you will receive patience in your praying.

 

A Love Worth Giving

 

And while you're praying, ask for understanding. "Patient people have
great
understanding"  (Prov. 14:29). Why? Because patience always hitches a
ride
with understanding. The wise man says, "A man of understanding holds his
tongue" (Prov. 11:12 NIV). He also says, "A man of understanding is
even-tempered" (Prov. 17:27 NIV). Don't miss the connection between
understanding and patience. Before you blow up, listen up. Before you
strike
out, tune in.

 

"God is being patient with you" (2 Pet. 3:9). And if God is being patient
with you, can't you pass on some patience to others?

 

From

A Love Worth Giving:   Living in the Overflow of God's Love

Copyright (Thomas Nelson, 2002) Max Lucado