Fireproof Day 11

Patient Love...Beauty & Grace
It is so like Jesus!

I don't know how many of you have seen the movie FIREPROOF yet, but it you haven't, do yourself a favor and go! My goodness what a 'firestorm' it is sending across this country. Here is one of the stories I read about the other day.

"Wow, this movie really hit home. Both my husband and I are on the fire department in our town. We have been going through some problems of our own in our relationship. Catherine and Caleb's relationship was somewhat similar to ours, and after watching the movie and seeing that others can make it through the same problems and not give up, it restored my faith in God and restored my faith that my relationship will be able to stand the test of time with God's help."

Also, I HIGHLY recommend that you get and do the Love Dare Journal. It is 40 Days of 'how to's for your marriage. Marylin and I have it and we're putting it into practice. I hope you will too!

One of the things I'm learning (and even after 35 years of marriage I have a lot to learn) is about this thing of patience. The Love Dare Journal says this:

Love will inspire you to become a patient person. When you choose to be patient, you respond in a positive way to a negative situation. You are slow to anger. You choose to have a long fuse instead of a quick temper...Patience brings an internal calm during an external storm.

Wow! Did you get that? Patience brings an internal calm during an external storm. When I think back over the years, it is sobering to think about how many arguments we could have avoided if we'd practiced more patience with each other. Because when you run out of patience, anger ensues and nothing good happens from that point on. Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived said it this way:

A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger quiets contention. Proverbs 15:18 (ESV)

And another good piece of advice tells us this:

See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. 1 Thessalonians 5:15 (ESV)

Until tomorrow,

Pastor Steve