What is God asking of me? The question could be rephrased, “What is LOVE asking of me?”

The list of what love is and is not is a good place to start. 

The first quality of love from St. Paul’s beautiful passage says, “Love is patient.”

I like to become curious about words as if I were learning them for the first time. How easy it is to assume I understand the word patient. 

The etymology of patient gives us the definition, “one who endures suffering calmly and without complaining.” 

Patience does not elicit a high emotional response to pain through anger or reactivity. 

Patience is serenity in pain or suffering. Those working to be more patient and less reactive would sit through the equivalent of a bee sting to develop the discipline of patience. The sting increases in intensity, helping the person calmly bear the pain without reactivity. 

Patience is not an easy task for me. I am quick by nature in my response. I take time to consider how God is asking me to be calmer in difficult situations. 

Does LOVE complain? 

Impatient people complain quickly, emotionally aggressively, without moderation or wisdom; they give full vent to their opinions, feelings, and point of view without listening or considering another side or another perspective. 

Patience is the opposite of demanding, controlling, anxious, or frustrated.

Frustration will always cause us to choose the wrong tool to solve a problem. 

There is no wisdom without love and no love without wisdom. 

I will not become more patient by guilting myself into needing more. Patience is an attribute of love and not shame. It is a fruit of the Holy Spirit and a character quality emerging from the discipline of pursuing God. 

What is love asking of me? To be a vessel for love, a love devotee. 

God asks this of me.

Love is patient.