Love. Love is Long-Spirited (patient, suffers, endures)

Part 4

We have found our way to the words that Paul uses to describe what love looks like. Interestingly, his first choice may not be the choice of many modern preachers. It certainly does not tickle the natural ear or make us feel excited. But, if understood, this truth can do wonders in our inner man if we allow it.

This verse is translated in a number of ways. 1 Corinthians 13:4a

“Love is patient.” – ESV
“Love suffers long.” – NKJV
“Love endures with patience.” – AMP

So which translation is right? All of them! Love is patient. It does suffer long and it surely endures.
Let’s take a look at the Greek word used in 1 Cor 13:4. Perhaps it will give us a better understanding and to what the Holy Spirit wanted us to understand.

makrothymeō – “to be of a long spirit, not to lose heart.” It comes from two Greek words – makros “long” and thumos “temper.” Therefore, this word carries the idea of a person who is slow to anger. Where does anger usually originate? It often happens when a person feels like they have lost control of a situation. We can easily find ourselves feeling like that in the many trials of this life. This is where being long-spirited becomes very valuable.

Let’s take a look at some other instances where this word was used in the New Testament.

Persistant Widow

In Luke 18 we find the parable of the persistent widow.

“Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, saying: ‘There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’”Then the Lord said, ‘Hear what the unjust judge said. And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long (makrothymeō) with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?’” – (Luke 18:1-8)

There is much to unpack here. In this story that Jesus used there are three that are exercising long-suffering: the widow, the judge and God. The widow was suffering long by persisting in her request for justice. The judge was suffering long by being constantly bombarded with the request for justice. And God was suffering long by the requests by the two for relief from the situation.

The widow showed great long-suffering by not giving up. For her there was a great element of endurance – not giving up. This type of long-suffering was very much active. Some see “love is patient” as kind of a passive edirance of something until it passes. We can clearly see this was not the case with the widow.

Jesus concluded the above example with a question: “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” Our faith here is directly tied with our ability to suffer long. We know there are great and many troubles ahead before the return of Christ. We greatly need the long-spirit of love to be active in our lives if we can say yes to Jesus’ question.

Abraham

Next, let’s learn from Abraham. Hebrews 6:15 says:

“And so, after he had patiently endured, (makrothymeō) he obtained the promise.”

Talk about a long wait for God’s promise. Abraham did not see the promise of God until he was nearly 100 years old. Here we see that long-suffering is directly tied to the promises of God. We do not know why Abraham had to wait so long. Perhaps it was a mixture of God’s timing and Abraham’s impatience (think Hagar). Nevertheless, Abraham never gave up. And we shouldn’t either.

“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering (makrothymeō) toward us,[not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)

Think for a minute how the Lord has suffered long with you. Has He not been extremely patient with you throughout your life? This should greatly encourage us, especially as we might be tempted to write others off and give up on them.

This patience (long-suffering, endurance) is greatly needed and sorely lacking in our day. We live in such an instant, microwave society. Despite that, we can become long-spirited by the grace of God. My wife Esther and I were in Walmart recently and were rung up by a cashier who was new. She had an issue scanning one of our items. It took around 10 minutes to figure out. The cashier kept apologizing. My wife just remained calm and patient. At the end the cashier profusely thanked my wife for being patient. Now, whenever that woman sees my wife she goes out of her way to say hi. This may seem like a small matter but the patience of my wife made an impact. Having the long-spirit of love will make us stand out, pointing to the Prince of Peace.