Love Is Patient

• Can you share a time when you were patient with someone?

• Can you share a time when your parents were patient with you?

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
1 Corinthians 13:4

People told Janice that she was nuts to take on a foster child, but her biological children were grown up and her husband had died, so Janice felt she had the resources and time to care for a child.

But Denise was no ordinary child. She was angry all the time. She was disrespectful to Janice, refused to follow Janice’s rules, and complained constantly. Janice invited Denise to go to church with her and to read the Bible with her, but Denise just made fun of her, calling her a “Jesus freak.”

When people asked Janice how she put up with it, she would just smile and say, “Love is patient, love is kind.”

Then one day, Denise herself asked Janice, “Why do you put up with me? I don’t deserve your love.”

Janice answered, “I wonder the same thing about God. I don’t deserve his love, but he never gives up on me.”

That day, Denise and Janice began to study the Bible together. Eventually, Denise even joined Janice in church. Life wasn’t perfect—Denise still struggled, but Janice remained patient. And through Janice’s patience, Denise learned about real love.

PRAYER
Dear God, thank you for being patient with your children. Please help us to love others and be patient with them. Amen.