Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - How To Develop Patience | Redefining Love (1 Cor. 13)

Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work. I'm Patrick Miller. And I'm Keith Simon. Right now, we're working through 1st Corinthians 13, Paul's definition of love. Okay, I know this should be embarrassing, but I'm going to tell you the truth. I am a sucker for animal videos. The other day I saw this video of an elephant with her calf, and she's giving the calf a bath in some muddy water, because I guess that's how elephants do it. And when they're all done, she's trying to nudge her calf out of the water.

Starting point is 00:00:40 But it's obvious that the calf doesn't want to get out. It's having a great bath time. And so she starts using her trunk and then her leg. And the calf keeps protesting. It's grunting. It's shooting water all over the place. And after a while, she finally, finally manages to get the calf out of the water. About a minute passes.

Starting point is 00:00:59 And then she looks away from the calf. And the minute she looks away, the calf. sprints right back in to the water. The mom turns around, she sees it, and she just lets out this long, and I have to think, annoyed trumpet from her trunk. Because, you know, as it turns out, it doesn't matter if you're a human or if you're an elephant. Patience is hard. Just ask any parent of a toddler trying to leave the house. Everything takes forever, putting on shoes, putting on coats. Oh, and now I need a water. Oh, and now I need to go potty and oh, Dad, can you get me some goldfish? And then the worst part, the slow motion walk to the car. And when you finally get out there, they keep walking past the car

Starting point is 00:01:43 out into the driveway, really anywhere that you don't want them to be. Sometimes, if I'm going to be honest, it makes me want to rip my hair out. Who do you struggle to have patience with? Is it a spouse who takes too long to get ready? A coworker who never turns their project in on time? Is it a friend who tells stories so slowly and so longly? Is it a roommate who leaves dirty dishes in the sink so they can quote-unquote soak? Or is it just the stranger in front of you in traffic or in line who seems intent on moving at about half the speed of everybody else? I can keep coming up with examples. I'll let you end on a little secret. I struggle with patience.

Starting point is 00:02:34 And so it's striking to me that when the Apostle Paul, he wanted to give a definitive definition of what love is, when he wanted to do that in 1st Corinthians 13, the first word that he uses to describe what love is is patience. 1 Corinthians 13, 4, love is patience. In 1 Thessalonians 514, Paul expands on this idea. And he says this. He says, we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive.

Starting point is 00:03:07 Encourage the disheartened. Help the weak. Be patient with everyone. Be patient with everyone. And did you cast the list of people that Paul's calling us to show patience to? It's the idol, the disruptive, the disheartened, the way. week. Now, if I'm going to be honest, those are exactly the sorts of people that I struggle to show patience to. It's almost like Paul could read my mind. He knew that if he called me to patient, I'd say, well, you know, I'm patient most of the time. And when I get impatient, it's because those people deserve it. Why do the idol deserve my impatience? Well, it's because I can see so clearly, you know, what they need to do to fix the problem, but they just won't activate.

Starting point is 00:03:55 Why do the disruptive deserve my impatience? Well, they don't have normal social boundaries. They cause problems. They stir things up. They add work. Why do the disheartened deserve impatience? Well, it's because they're always Debbie Downers. The cup is always half empty. Nothing can ever cheer them up. Why do the weak deserve impatience? Well, if they're physically weak, it means I've got to carry more of the load. If they're intellectually weak, that means that I have to slow down. If they're they're morally weak, then I've got to wait through the mess. Do you see the common thread? All of these people affect me.

Starting point is 00:04:36 They make demands on my time, my energy, my life, and even my reputation. Patience requires me to make a sacrifice. You know the funny thing? I think it's the sacrificial nature of patience. That's what makes patience the first word in Paul's description of love. Why? Well, it's because Jesus was love incarnate and Jesus expressed his love most clearly by sacrificing his life for us. The only way to grow in patience, I think, is to reflect on what Jesus has done for you and me. It's to reflect on all the ways that Jesus has been patient with us in our lives.

Starting point is 00:05:25 Again, just think about it. Have you ever been idle with Jesus? Oh, Jesus, I promise I'll share you with my co-worker soon. I promise I'll start praying and reading my Bible soon. I promise I'll resolve this conflict any time now. Have you ever been disruptive with Jesus? You know, when we get angry, God, how could you let this person get sick? God, how could you let me lose my job? God, why am I still single after all these years. Have you ever been disheartened with Jesus? Yeah, Jesus, I hear what you say, but honestly, my life's never going to change.

Starting point is 00:06:07 I'm always going to have these struggles. I'm never going to get ahead. Have you ever been weak with Jesus? Jesus, I'm sorry. I know I said I never do that sin again, but here I am. I did it, and then I did it again and again. And again, 1 Peter 3.9 says, the Lord, Jesus is patient with you. Why is he patient with us?

Starting point is 00:06:34 He's patient with you not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. Do you see how patient Jesus has been with you, with you in your idleness, in your disruptiveness, in your sadness, in your weakness? where would you be if Jesus treated you the way you're treating other people right now? Answering for myself? Maybe not in a great place. The beauty of the gospel is that it gives us a humble self-assessment. We are actually able to see ourselves for the idle, disruptive, disheartened, weak people that we really are. And we see that Jesus showed us patient love, even though.

Starting point is 00:07:20 though we didn't deserve it, seeing all of that, it frees us to show patience to others, especially those who don't deserve it. Today, I want to encourage you to be on the lookout for the idol, the disruptive, the disheartened, and the weak. Ask God to give you the gift of patient love and then live it out. Thanks for listening. If you've enjoyed this content, please subscribe and give us a rating. That helps other people find this podcast more easily. Also, ask yourself, who could you share this podcast with? Texting an episode to a friend or a family member is a great way to help them grow spiritually.

Starting point is 00:08:07 If you want to go deeper, check out our show notes for book recommendations.

Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - How To Develop Patience | Redefining Love (1 Cor. 13)

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