Patience part 5
Love is patient, and love is kind. To me those really go hand in hand. If you're not being kind, are you really being patient? If you're not loving people, does it matter what you're doing? Love does not demand it's (His, Jesus') own way. You don't love someone because of what they do for you. Love is never about getting, because love IS giving. You love someone because of what GOD has done for you. He filled you up with His love. That's why you have something to give. You can't give what you don't have and you can only give what you do have. Filling yourself to overflowing with what God has already filled you with is how you experience what God has given you. Let what's inside come out. Stop thinking of yourself as lacking anything. We have no lack because our God has no lack. Love-which is not just what God does, but is who God is... and is not just what WE do, but is who WE are--does not just HAVE patience. Love IS patience. It's like the Wizard of Oz, truly. We spend (waste) so much of our three T's (Time, Talent, Treasure) trying to get things we think we haven't got, and we miss out on experiencing and enjoying what we have got. I don't think I necessarily agree with "If you ask God for patience He will give you opportunities to be patient." Because this whole life is an opportunity to be patient! The key is in realizing that we don't need anything. We simply ought to begin to use what we have. We don't need to change, we need to see ourselves as we truly are. Which, granted, can FEEL like a change. But it's really just the laying aside of anything that is not true about us. "I'm just not a patient person." Really? Why don't you spend some time focusing on how much God loves you and how patient He is with you. That might change your mindset a little bit. Both about what it means to BE patient--we seem to think it means holding on until we get our own way--and about whether or not we ARE patient. To me, patience is simply not having a negative reaction when we don't get our own way. Seeing past this moment and understanding that there is a bigger picture. All things work together for good, right? So we need to let things play out instead of having such an intense reaction to THIS moment. Feel what you feel, but don't let it control you. Understand that there is a grand scheme at work. Everything works out in the end. If it hasn't worked out yet, it isn't the end yet. Trust God that He has your best interests at heart and that He knows what He's doing. Rome wasn't built in a day. This journey into the heart of the matter (which is the heart) that we call life is a never-ending journey. It's all about learning and growing. Going through things so that we can then help others through those same things. What's that old saying? "Accept the things you cannot change, and change the things you cannot accept." Something like that. But, at the same time, as much as it is possible, live in peace with people. Don't expect people to be what YOU want them to be. People are who they are. They're going to do whatever it is they're going to do whether you want them to or not. So don't get all upset about it. Check yourself before you wreck yourself. Be patient. Be kind. Love them anyway. Love them in spite of their differences to you. Love them BECAUSE of their differences! Celebrate people for who THEY are rather than trying to make them be someone they're not. If you're waiting for people to change into what you want them to be... that's not patience. If you're accepting people for who they are... that's kind, patient love!