Love Is Patient Series

LOVE IS PATIENCE

I CORINTHIANS 13:4

The Bible says, "It is not good for man to be alone." You and I are created

to have fellowship with God and each other. It is no accident that solitary

confinement is considered to be punishment. Tonight, we are going to look at

relationships and their importance in our lives. Why? I believe they are

important because of three reasons.

1. They are important because relationships determine our happiness.

They are either the source of our greatest pleasure or our greatest pain.

Psychology tells us that most psychological problems are rooted in wrong

relationships.

2. They are important because they will determine our success.

I was reading the other day, that the most important skill for an executive

to have is the ability to get along with other people.

3. They are important because our relationships develop our character.

Who you are a year from today will be determined by two things: by what you

allow in your mind, and with whom you associate during that time. Bad company corrupts good character." Parents, is your child suddenly doing badly in school? Check out who his new friends are. Has your child’s personality suddenly changed? Check out who his new friends are. Who you hang out with has an influence on your life.

Last week we began our series on Chapter 13 of I Corinthians. We discovered

that God intends for love to be the basis of all of our relationships. The

problem is that most people misunderstand love. We spent part of our sermon

last week defining love. God gave us an entire chapter to help us

understand what love is all about.

Tonight, we are going to look at a new part of our understanding of love. It

is found in I Corinthians 13:4, "Love is Patient." God is telling us that

if we are going to have viable and growing relationships, the first thing

we need is patience. Does that surprise you? It doesn’t surprise me. Why

would God know that? He has had several thousand years of needing patience

in His relationship with us.

The Greek word used here for patience is literally "to have a high boiling

point." This word is never used in the Bible except to explain the

relationships of people. It means that it is loving to be patient. It is

unloving to be impatient. Why is patience so important to relationships?

I. WHY IS PATIENCE SO IMPORTANT TO RELATIONSHIPS?

There are two reasons patience is so important to relationships.

1. Because everybody is unique.

Read with me I Corinthians 12:4-6, "There are different kinds of gifts, but

the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.

There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in

all men." Paul is telling you and me that we are unique. If you are a

parent, then you realize this. You probably came very close to rearing your

children in the same ways. And yet, they more than likely turned out to be

completely different.

God made you to be unique. We have been discovering this in our

discipleship classes. We have discovered there are five factors that make

you different from any other human being on the earth.

1. Your Spiritual Gift. This is the unique ability that God gives

you to serve Him.

2. Your heart. We are all motivated differently.

3. Your abilities. We all have natural talents that are different

from others.

4. Your personality. We all have different personalities.

5. Your experiences. We all have different backgrounds and

experiences that have shaped our lives.

Because of the way God has shaped you, there is no one else exactly like

you.

2. Patience is important in our relationships because our distinctions cause misunderstandings.

More times than not, we can figure each other out. Read with me I

Corinthians 2:11, "Who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the

man’s spirit within him?" I am sure there are a lot of you who are

thinking, "See, I told you so. I now know why no one can understand my

spouse."

Let me ask you. Have you said anything like this in the past? "I don’t

understand the way he acts." "She doesn’t understand me." "She doesn’t make

any sense." "How can you think that way?" "My parents don’t understand me."

Can you relate to any of these? Sure you can, because we all have tough

times with each other because we are all different.

Look with me at I Thessalonians 5:14, ". . . Be patient with everyone." I

am sure some of you are thinking, "That is impossible. I can’t do it. How

can I be patient with everybody?" The reason we are impatient with others