Practicing love

On the other hand, the Bible speaks of some very specific attitudes and actions that reveal love. Of course, there is 1 Corinthians 13’s beautiful description of love. But there are other verses. Take for instance Ephesians 4:2 NIV “be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.”

These four graces are all aspects of love: humility, gentleness, patience and forbearance. As we review these practical biblical elements of love, let us all ask God to give us his grace to grow in our practice of love!

Humble: As I was writing this, the thought came that it is impossible to love without being humble. Humility makes you focus on another person. Too often we are so focused on our thoughts and feelings that we never really notice others — what are they feeling — what are they really saying. We just assume we know what is going on with them. Stop and show your love by humbling yourself to focus on them.

Gentle: Gentleness makes one less apt to judge others. It is opposed to resentments and peevishness. It has a demeanor that makes people open and not be defensive. Some people think it is weakness, but it is really humility in action. Stop and show your love by being gentle and understanding.

Patience: This refers to a resolve to give people time to work through a situation. A great example is communication. I once took a course from someone who was considered one of the 10 best communicators in America. He stated that the first rule communication was this: (Ready?): “Once you have made yourself perfectly clear, realize, the person doesn’t have a clue what you are talking about!” How many times have you said (or heard), “that isn’t what I meant?” In other words, communication is a process. Stop and show your love by having patience as someone works through a problem.

Forbearance: God is love and He expects His children to operate in love. In other words, show restraint and tolerance for other’s faults and failures and all their idiosyncrasies. And, yes, humble yourself and admit you may have a few of your own. Stop and show your love by putting up with them, that is forbearing in love.

If you stop and think about it the only one who has carried out these graces perfectly was Jesus.

How did Jesus show humility? Remember that Jesus was the son of God who helped fling the stars into the universe and how He only experienced the love and fellowship of heaven. Think of how He willingly emptied Himself of all that glory to be born as a helpless baby. That is humility in action.

How did Jesus show gentleness? He viewed people with care and not judgement. John 3:17 tells us that Jesus’ mission was not to condemn the world but to save it. He opened the way of deliverance and forgiveness by his redeeming death on the cross.

How did Jesus show patience? He challenged people with the truth and then gave them time to make the right choice, even if he ached with love as he waited. This is shown in his interaction with the rich young ruler.

How did Jesus show forbearance? He showed his human side as he suffered through waiting for His Disciples to understand the truth he was teaching. This is revealed in statements like “have I been so long with you and you do not understand?”

The beautiful truth for us is that Jesus is the same today. He practices these practical biblical elements of love with each of us. He still patiently waits for us to understand and accept all that he offers us.

May God help us to be honest about ourselves and our needs. May we see that in compassion, Jesus offers Himself to be the bridge to a Holy perfect God. May we cross that bridge by accepting Christ’s gift of new life, purchased on the cross. Then, secure in His compassion, we can practice practical biblical elements of love with others.

Tucson faith leaders, we would like to include your original sermon or scriptures of encouragement. Sermons must be written by the person submitting them, not borrowed from another source or writer. If you are a faith leader from any religion or denomination, please contact Sara Brown at [email protected].