“Allow Christ to love through you, and watch your patience grow and expand.”
Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – November 2, 2026
Love is patient. 1 Corinthians 13:4
Love, by nature, is patient. This is why couples who are “in love” show an inordinate amount of patience at the beginning. What is said, what is done, and what is not done are given a pass within the relationship. Lovers believe, “I will let you down. You will let me down. I will act immaturely. You will act immaturely. I will struggle with fear. You will struggle with fear. We both need patience, for love is patient.” If a relationship lacks patience, it shows a deficiency of love. For example, you serve your children, who are sometimes silly and prone to foolishness, because you love them. And because you love them, you are patient with them.
Outside your family, love gets harder. You barely know a work associate or stranger, especially someone outside the faith. So how can you love them? The hardest to love is someone who has offended you, and we tend to lose patience with those who offend us. Here is an important distinction: you love someone not because they necessarily deserve it, but because they are created in the image of God. Jesus loved them so much that He died for them.
You can disapprove of their behavior and still love them. Your willingness to tolerate delays may keep the relationship intact, and your calmness and self-control may be exactly what the situation needs to stabilize. Wake up loving, go to bed loving, and love in between.
God understands this because He is love, and He is the epitome of patience. If anyone has the right to lose patience, it is God. Every day He deals with billions of sinners, many of whom demand their own way. Some are oblivious to God. Some are harsh and angry toward Him. Yet because of His great love for mankind, His longsuffering endures rejection and apathy. He feels compassion, not defiance, toward someone lost in sin and flailing in criticism toward Christ. His love expands rather than contracts in the face of your failures. But followers of Jesus have the Holy Spirit dwelling within them, enabling them to love with Christ’s capacity to love.
Thus, you have the potential for greater patience. Allow Christ to love through you, and watch your patience grow. Do not fall into the trap of an angry rebuttal. You still confront, but at the right time and in the right way. Express patience, and everyone is better able to discuss the facts. Love the unlovable. Love the undeserving. Love the impatient. Jesus patiently loved the unlovely. Like our Lord, look at those who are hard to love with eyes of patient love.
“Jesus looked at him and loved him” (Mark 10:21).
Prayer
Heavenly Father, give me patient love for those I find hard to like and be around, in Jesus’ name, amen.
Application
What is one way I can show love toward someone I find hard to like or love?
Related Reading
Exodus 34:6; Psalm 103:8-10; Ephesians 4:2; 2 Peter 3:9
Worship Resource
Ben Fuller: Who I Am
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