be patient with everyone…

there’s a single word that we need in all of our relationships because they’re messy, because they take time, because the people we have relationships with aren’t perfect and we’re not perfect.  that single word is found in ephesians 4.2 (tlb),  be humble and gentle be… patient.  it takes patience. 

who do we have to be patient with?  1 thessalonians 5.14 (niv) says, be patient with everyone.  everyone needs my patience because nobody’s perfect. 

i’m so grateful when GOD’s patient with me to grow.  i am so grateful in my life for the people that have been patient with me to grow.  but even in light of that is hard being patient with other people.  i want them to hurry up.  i want them to grow fast.  yet for relationships to develop it takes genuine patience.

what does that patience look like?  you’re standing at that crossroads and you wonder, “am i going to hurry this along?  or am i going to have the patience in this relationship to watch it develop, change and heal?”  what does that look like

a great verse about this is in 1 corinthians 13.7 (nlt).  here’s the decisions we’re making at that crossroads when we decide to take the long road.  love never gives up, never loses faith.  it is always hopeful and endures through every circumstance.

so there you are at that crossroads, deciding which way are we going to go?  at that crossroads, when you decide to take the long road what you’re saying is, “i’m deciding right here, right now i’m not going to give up.” 

some of you need to decide that right here, right now about a relationship with a husband, a wife, one of your kids, a friend, somebody at work.  “i’m not going to give up on that relationship with somebody in my family!  i’m going to decide right here and right now i’m not going to lose faith. 

GOD is still there.  HE is still working.  i’m going to decide right here and now, i’m not going to stop hoping.  i am deciding to take the long road, to endure with you even through the toughest circumstances.  that’s what it looks like, to have that kind of patience, to be willing to take the long road. 

just a thought from the front porch…