"He was despised, and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and as one from whom men hide their face he was despised; and we esteemed him not.
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."
Isaiah 53:3-5
Jesus was long-suffering. He moved and lived and walked among the lost, and He felt their pain--He was acquainted with their pain! He felt the Father's heart towards the lost--He understood their hopelessness as sheep without a shepherd. (Matthew 9:36) Jesus groaned under the intensity of His love for creation, His longing for all of them to see redemption. In many way, it was a burden for Him.
"Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not its own, is not provoked, taketh not account of evil;
rejoiceth not in unrighteousness, but rejoiceth with the truth;
beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things."
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
We need to realize that there is a spiritual need to "suffereth long". That's what Jesus does, and that's what love does. We need to hurt for the hurting, die for the dying, and feel for the unfeeling. We need to long for the salvation of others. We need to bear their burdens--and be burdened by their problems. This long-suffering is what fulfills the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2).
"But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God."
So to continue on in this kind of love, we need to patiently endure. Endure in what? Endure in hope. Endure in Jesus, who is the hope of salvation, and the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27) We need to bear within us the only hope of the lost. We need to carry within us the long--suffering of Christ for others. We need to carry within us the unstifled passion of the Holy Spirit.
Are we bearing all things? Believing all things? Hoping all things? Enduring all things? If the answer to such questions is 'yes', then we have entered into a godly idealism. If yes, then we are fulfilling the law of Christ. And it will be painful! It can and will be painful to hope for others and believe for others what they cannot yet believe for themselves.
To see someone, and know they need Jesus, and to hope and pray and believe that they will find Him, that's long-suffering. We continue groaning on their behalf--we patiently endure their pain. We hope for their salvation; we hope for their redemption. We long to see just one come to know Him, to see just one come to see Him for who He really is. This is what ministry is all about--what life is all about! This is what it means to be love.
"For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse.
But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.
And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us.
We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)"
Romans 8:19-25
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."
Isaiah 53:3-5
Jesus was long-suffering. He moved and lived and walked among the lost, and He felt their pain--He was acquainted with their pain! He felt the Father's heart towards the lost--He understood their hopelessness as sheep without a shepherd. (Matthew 9:36) Jesus groaned under the intensity of His love for creation, His longing for all of them to see redemption. In many way, it was a burden for Him.
"Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not its own, is not provoked, taketh not account of evil;
rejoiceth not in unrighteousness, but rejoiceth with the truth;
beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things."
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
We need to realize that there is a spiritual need to "suffereth long". That's what Jesus does, and that's what love does. We need to hurt for the hurting, die for the dying, and feel for the unfeeling. We need to long for the salvation of others. We need to bear their burdens--and be burdened by their problems. This long-suffering is what fulfills the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2).
"But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God."
So to continue on in this kind of love, we need to patiently endure. Endure in what? Endure in hope. Endure in Jesus, who is the hope of salvation, and the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27) We need to bear within us the only hope of the lost. We need to carry within us the long--suffering of Christ for others. We need to carry within us the unstifled passion of the Holy Spirit.
Are we bearing all things? Believing all things? Hoping all things? Enduring all things? If the answer to such questions is 'yes', then we have entered into a godly idealism. If yes, then we are fulfilling the law of Christ. And it will be painful! It can and will be painful to hope for others and believe for others what they cannot yet believe for themselves.
To see someone, and know they need Jesus, and to hope and pray and believe that they will find Him, that's long-suffering. We continue groaning on their behalf--we patiently endure their pain. We hope for their salvation; we hope for their redemption. We long to see just one come to know Him, to see just one come to see Him for who He really is. This is what ministry is all about--what life is all about! This is what it means to be love.
"For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse.
But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.
And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us.
We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)"
Romans 8:19-25
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