Love suffers long and is kind… 1 Corinthians 13:4
As we begin pondering specific attributes of love in this chapter, we must keep the overarching context of the letter in view. In this section, Paul addressed abuses of miraculous spiritual gifts in the congregation (1 Corinthians 12-14). This was but one part of the deep divisions and moral issues plaguing the congregation. They were splintered over who converted them (1:10-13), worldly-minded (3:1-4), tolerant of sexual deviancy (5:1-8), suing one another in pagan courts (6:1-8), selfish in the Lord’s supper (11:17-34), and the list of issues continues. In short, the congregation was troubled in a host of ways, and the process of cleaning up the problems would not be easy. So, Paul was in the process of showing them the “…more excellent way” of love without which all the deeds a Christian may do become empty and vein (12:31-13:3).
The description that follows is both beautiful and challenging. The more fully we embrace the biblical kind of love, the greater the harmony we will enjoy in the Lord’s body. Though we have many different problems than the church at Corinth, the love of God in our lives is still the solution (cf. Matthew 22:34-40; John 13:35; 14:15; 15:14, 23; 1 John 5:1-3). Recognizing the challenges that were set before the Corinthians, Paul began with the durability of love. The word translated as longsuffering or patient means “to be long spirited, have (long) patience” (Strong), “to be patient in bearing the offenses and injuries of others, mild and slow in avenging, slow to anger, slow to punish” (Thayer).
The root of the English word longsuffering is suffer. It is implied that the situation at hand is causing us pain or distress, but the love of God we are to imitate (Ephesians 5:1-2) demands we not give up on the object of our love too quickly. While this is not easy to do, there are things we can do to improve our long-suffering capacity.
First, it is helpful to maintain an honest attitude about our own faults in seeking to be more longsuffering with our peers. You know the whole throwing rocks in glass houses and the pot calling the kettle black thing. This was the failure of the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18:21-35, a context where our root word occurs twice as the two servants asked their debtors to be longsuffering with them while they tried to repay their debts (vv. 26, 29). The unforgiving servant refused to extend this show of love to his fellow servant. The result of this decision illustrates the second thing we should do to improve our long-suffering.
Secondly, as we learn from the unforgiving servant, to refuse the love of God to our fellow sin-sick humanity is to elevate ourselves above our perfect Master. When the servant asked the master to show him long-suffering in his debt, the master forgave the whole debt. When he learned the servant treated his fellow servant violently over a much less significant debt, he revoked the act of kindness he had originally given. The master in the parable is God, and the servant is any of us who seeks His long-suffering and then refuses to extend the same to our peers. It is God’s long-suffering that keeps this world spinning and gives us opportunities to repent (2 Peter 3:9).
A key element in pursuing the patience that is inherent to the love of God is that we have a kind disposition. This term is indicative of one who is “gentle, benign” (Mounce). If we are to suffer long with the wrongs of our peers, we must be kind, gentle, benign. It must be our ceaseless aim that, though we may be angered, we seek the good of the other (Ephesians 4:26; Matthew 5:43-48). This is certain to be a difficult task as we must cast aside our natural inclinations and embrace the fruits of the Spirit of which both these characteristics of love are a part (Galatians 5:2). The good news is, God has not asked of us anything which He will not produce in us if we will draw near to Him (1 Corinthians 10:13; 2 Peter 1:3). May we all seek to suffer longer and be more benign in our dispositions.