Love them with a never ending, patient love.

I was standing in my kitchen trying to make dinner – trying and failing miserably. I couldn’t focus on the new recipe I was attempting because of the level of noise around me. My three children were bickering, the dogs were barking, and everyone was looking to me to solve the problem.

I wanted to help them. I wanted to bring peace to the room and nurture my kids in the process, but I had a problem of my own. I had lost my patience. Every last shred of it was gone. I thought about giving up, just giving in and allowing the behavior to go unchecked, allowing the strife to linger, allowing peace to cede its reign in my home. But, I knew that wasn’t what I was made to do. I was made to love my kids, and love never gives up.

The Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 13:4 that “love is patient.” Patience is a part of the identity of love, part of its DNA, part of how it acts and speaks and moves and thinks. The Message translation says it slightly differently. It says, “Love never gives up.”

Love never stops. It perseveres. Presses on and presses in. When all seems lost, it finds a way.

Patience might evoke a passive image in your mind. Perhaps you envision a placid face, a relaxed demeanor, and a gentle answer. This might be the outpouring of patience, but the internal workings of patience are far less passive than we think. There’s action required with patience – a strength of will and mind to claim that love that never gives up, and Mama, you have that kind of strength.

The love you feel for your children – that never-ending, overwhelming, all-consuming love you have for them -never gives up. Even when you feel like you’ve lost every last shred of strength and patience, you can always find more, as long as you look in the right place.

When I’ve lost my patience and I need to find it again fast, there’s only one place that I know to look, and that’s love itself. 1 John 4:8 tells us that “God is love.” The well of his love never runs dry. There is always more, always enough. So, it’s to him that I turn. I find the patience and endurance that I’ve lost by asking God for more, and you can too.

God is love. Love never gives up. God sees you in those hard moments, the ones that drain you of every last ounce of patience. He sees you, and he loves you. Because God never gives up on us, he will always give us what we need. He will equip us with the strength to love our kids like he loves us – to love them with a never ending, patient love.

If you need help, ask him for it. Just as he gives us oxygen to fill our lungs, he will give us the enduring love we need – the kind that’s patient, the kind that never gives up, the kind that mirrors his in every way.

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