Quite recently my wife and I were at my mother/father in-law’s home. My father-in-law is a recovering alcoholic that’s been sober for thirty-five years.
Somewhere during the evening, the conversation turned to the two of them having been married sixty-two years. There’s been longsuffering during some of those times. I can’t express how deeply I love and respect them for being an example to so many people, myself included.
In 1 Cor 13:4 (ASV), it says, “Love suffereth long…” Long-suffering is the first trait of love. This Scripture goes on and provides a long list of traits for love but the first is long-suffering. The Amplified Bible says, “Love endures long…” The Phillips translation says, “This love of which I speak is slow to lose patience…”
I think God is telling us that if what we call love doesn’t contain the core characteristic of a commitment to long endurance then it’s fake love; a forgery. Our “modern” world says it’s ok to throw away babies, divorce because you’re tired of your spouse, discard whole families so you can find yourself as well as your church if it’s inconvenient, exhausting or confining.
It amazes me that the society that tells us to invest our money for the long term turns around and tells us to leave any relationship that takes an investment of time. If someone tells you they love you, check back in 10 or 20 years. If that person is still in your life then they meant it.
Photo by Joyce Romero on Unsplash