REAL LOVE- "SUFFERS LONG"
Saturday, August 06, 2005
8/06/2005 07:45:00 PM♥
The Greek word meant "long-tempered." Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words says that this word describes "that quality of self-restraint in the face of provocation that does not hastily retaliate or promptly punish." It is the quality of having a long fuse. One commentator defined it as "slow to become resentful." This means that real love does not retaliate in kind, or seek to get even. It does not embrace bitterness, but patiently loves--even when experiencing serious heartache.
In our day of domestic violence, sexual unfaithfulness, and broken relationships, this kind of love is vital. It recognizes and deals with the heartaches it faces, but it never turns in vengeful response.
Sometimes this quality of love enables a person to do what others say they could never do. i've read up a case -Joan's case. Her husband had been involved in a lengthy affair, eventually abandoning the marriage and family they had established. The marriage finally ended in divorce. Yet, in all the hurt and pain Joan had experienced, she never forgot how, and why, to love her husband.
After months of hurt, sorrow, and rebuilding her life alone, she received word that Charles, her ex-husband, had been injured at work and had been hospitalized. God used the suffering of that accident to get the attention of a man gone astray.
One day Charles contacted Joan and asked if there was any hope for their broken marriage to be restored. What a huge question! And what an open door for further hurt and sorrow! But in spite of Joan's obvious concerns, she and Charles entered months of biblical counseling.
Two years after Joan had been forced to deal with one of the most severe pains and losses a woman can know, she was remarried to Charles. Another woman in a similar situation might have felt compelled to lovingly decline remarriage. But Joan's love refused to be resentful, and it had the grace to "suffer long." In spite of the pain and sense of abandonment she had experienced, Joan took the risk of remarriage to the one who had hurt her so terribly.
I'm starting a fashion idea in my head ;
8/06/2005 07:45:00 PM
