Love Waits, and Its Full Extent

 by Jen Jacobs

In this week’s small group, we covered Chapter 5, Love Waits, and Chapter 6, Love’s Full Extent.  We packed a lot of information into this week’s group, but it was great to hear how much every group member is gleaning from this book.

Chapter 5 focuses on love being patient (1 Cor. 13:4).  A good synonym for this is forbearance  (p. 76), and Ryken goes on to write:

“In telling us to exercise patience, the Bible is simply calling us to imitate the character of our God, who is patient both in the sense of being slow to anger and in the sense of waiting for just right time to do something…….Not only is patience one of the essential attributes of God, therefore, but our very salvation depends on it” (p. 77).

Like God has been patient with us, we need to patient with those around us.  Given the day-to-day tasks that can easily frustrate us and tempt us to become impatient, Paul’s reminder to the Corinthians is extremely applicable for all of us today!

Ryken says that a good place to see the patience of love is in the story of Jesus’ raising Lazarus from the dead (John 11:1-44).  Instead of rushing to Bethany to heal his sick friend, Lazarus, Jesus waits a whole two days to make the journey there (v. 6). 

In the meantime, Lazarus dies, and his sisters, Mary and Martha, are grieving (v. 19).  We even see the raw emotion of our Saviour as he weeps (v. 35).  We then see Jesus’ power over death as He commands Lazarus, who had been dead 4 days at that point (v. 39), to come out from the tomb (v. 43-44). What a sight it must have been to those that saw this awesome miracle face-to-face!

Ryken reminds us:

“God is control.  God is at work.  All this true, yet knowing these truths does not mean that we will not suffer.  This is another lesson that John 11 teaches us about patience: love waits through suffering.” 

God uses our sufferings to produce patience and hope (p. 85, see Rom. 5:3-4).  Of course, none of us like to suffer, but the Bible has so much to say about suffering and its role in our lives (more than we can cover in this blog post!). 

When we get impatient, Ryken reminds us to focus on this truth:

“God will make everything come out right in the end.  Jesus is never early and never late but always right on time.  He is not indifferent to the suffering of a fallen world, any more than he was indifferent to Lazarus and his sisters.  In his love, he has a plan to bring all our sufferings to an end.  His great day will come at exactly the right moment.  When it comes, we will see his glory.  Then we will know that he was in control all along, working everything for good, even through suffering, and that there was never any reason for us to be impatient at all” (p. 88).

In the second part of our small group, we discussed Chapter 6, Love’s Full Extent.  “Love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude” (1 Cor. 13:4-5). Ryken writes that lack of love is the root of rude or boastful behavior:

 “Why are we green with envy when someone else gets what we want?  Why is it so important to us for other people to praise our accomplishments? Why are rude to certain people in certain situations?  It is because we love ourselves the most, and because sometimes we hardly love other people at all.”(p. 95)

However, Jesus gives us a great example of selfless love when he washes his disciples feet in John 13:1-17.  Washing others’ feet may seem like an odd thing to do to us, but, in Jesus’ time, foot washing was a common practice. 

A good, polite host would have his servants wash his guests’ feet that were dirty from the road they walked to attend the event (p. 100).   He takes the place of humility and washes the disciples’ feet, even Judas’ feet who would betray him later.  By the power of God’s grace, this is an example we should follow:

“If Jesus has done this for us, then we should do the same for others.  The logical and practical conclusion is what Jesus did and said is that we are called to serve the way the Great One served, and to love the way that he loves.  Here is how Jesus clinched his argument:  ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.  If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.’ (John 13:16-17)" (p. 101). 

Whether we are at the grocery store or at the gym, may we all see the awesome opportunity to love and serve those around us! 

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Jen Jacobs is married to Sam and has a 1-year-old daughter named Jadyn.  While spending much of her life in the Southwest U.S., she actually has very strong roots in the Chicago area, so you can say that Jen is a big Bears and Whitesox fan!  When she is not spending time with her family and investing in her friends and neighbors, Jen is working as a personal trainer at a local wellness center and through her own business, Jen Jacobs Fitness. 

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We appreciate Jen sharing this week, and now you get the chance to do the same! E-mail twfcrowns@gmail.com with any questions or topics you would like to discuss or write about.  Really, any topic is worth considering for this blog as long as it's a service to our Trinity Wives community.  Please consider using your thoughts and experiences to bless your fellow seminary wives!