2008-10-13 08:20:46 on How much should I pay for a 2007 Hyundai Elantra SE with a few scratches and 23500 miles?
thanks! I already paid 11000 for it, oh well. It get’s good gas milage.
2008-10-13 08:16:51 on I am very sad.
Day 1
Love is patient
Be completely humble and gentle; be patient,
bearing with one another in love. —Ephesians 4:2 NIV
Love works. It is life’s most powerful motivator and has far greater depth and meaning than most people realize. It always does what is best for others and can empower us to face the greatest of problems. We are born with a lifelong thirst for love. Our hearts desperately need it like our lungs need oxygen. Love changes our motivation for living. Relationships become meaningful with it. No marriage is successful without it.
Love is built on two pillars that best define what it is. Those pillars are patience and kindness. All other characteristics of love are extensions of these two attributes. And that’s where your dare will begin. With patience.
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. Rather than being restless and demanding, love helps you settle down and begin extending mercy to those around you. Patience brings an internal calm during an external storm.
No one likes to be around an impatient person. It causes you to overreact in angry, foolish, and regrettable ways. The irony of anger toward a wrongful action is that it spawns new wrongs of its own. Anger almost never makes things better. In fact, it usually generates additional problems. But patience stops problems in their tracks. More than biting your lip, more than clapping a hand over your mouth, patience is a deep breath. It clears the air. It stops foolishness from whipping its scorpion tail all over the room. It is a choice to control your emotions rather than allowing your emotions to control you, and shows discretion instead of returning evil for evil.
If your spouse offends you, do you quickly retaliate, or do you stay under control? Do you find that anger is your emotional default when treated unfairly? If so, you are spreading poison rather than medicine.
Anger is usually caused when the strong desire for something is mixed with disappointment or grief. You don’t get what you want and you start heating up inside. It is often an emotional reaction that flows out of our own selfishness, foolishness, or evil motives.
Patience, however, makes us wise. It doesn’t rush to judgment but listens to what the other person is saying. Patience stands in the doorway where anger is clawing to burst in, but waits to see the whole picture before passing judgment. The Bible says, “He who is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who is quick-tempered exalts folly” (Proverbs 14:29).
As sure as a lack of patience will turn your home into a war zone, the practice of patience will foster peace and quiet. “A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but the slow to anger calms a dispute” (Proverbs 15:18). Statements like these from the Bible book of Proverbs are clear principles with timeless relevance. Patience is where love meets wisdom. And every marriage needs that combination to stay healthy.
Patience helps you give your spouse permission to be human. It understands that everyone fails. When a mistake is made, it chooses to give them more time than they deserve to correct it. It gives you the ability to hold on during the tough times in your relationship rather than bailing out under the pressure.
But can your spouse count on having a patient wife or husband to deal with? Can she know that locking her keys in the car will be met by your understanding rather than a demeaning lecture that makes her feel like a child? Can he know that cheering during the last seconds of a football game won’t invite a loud-mouthed laundry list of ways he should be spending his time? It turns out that few people are as hard to live with as an impatient person.
What would the tone and volume of your home be like if you tried this biblical approach: “See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another” (1 Thessalonians 5:15).
Few of us do patience very well, and none of us do it naturally. But wise men and women will pursue it as an essential ingredient to their marriage relationships. That’s a good starting point to demonstrate true love.
Today’s Dare
The first part of this dare is fairly
simple. Although love is communicated
in a number of ways, our words often
reflect the condition of our heart. For
the next day, resolve to demonstrate
patience and to say nothing negative
to your spouse at all. If the temptation
arises, choose not to say anything. It’s
better to hold your tongue than to say
something you’ll regret
Did anything happen today to cause anger toward your mate?
Were you tempted to think disapproving thoughts and to let them come out in words?
2008-10-13 08:10:24 on I am very sad.
2008-10-13 07:58:53 on I am very sad.
I am sorry that you are hurting.
2008-10-13 07:58:36 on I am very sad.
Peace to you Lilies.
2008-10-08 06:02:10 on hello im really felling ashamed i have never had too
Please strengthen this man who is leading his family, please help him to have wisdom to know what to do next. I ask you Great Father, to remember him in this valley and draw him to You.
2008-10-08 05:58:44 on hello im really felling ashamed i have never had too
I am praying for you my friend
2008-08-28 13:43:40 on It never happened.
The litmus test of which is which will be revealed in the process and end product.
2008-08-28 13:42:44 on It never happened.
Dwelling on failure or sin can lead to true repentance, and the sorrow that leads to correction (finding and applying the truth) is much better than worldly sorrow that leads to depression and death.
2008-08-28 13:39:52 on It never happened.
Our weakness is: we soon forget, but it is also our strength.
2008-07-29 05:31:19 on Just wanted to stop in and say hi.
Great to hear old friend!
2008-07-24 19:14:59 on I would like to start a chain of thanks to helpers
Time flies at help.com…wow. Thanks to all!
2008-07-19 18:20:58 on Four scars
cool….
2008-07-19 18:19:56 on Four scars
much
2008-07-19 18:19:48 on Four scars
Reminding everyone who sees them of the price He paid for us…and that defines Him to others…anyway think I talked too muc
Popular on CBS sites: World News | Fantasy Football | Amy Winehouse | Baseball | E3 | Batman | Firefox 3 | iPhone 3G
About CNET Networks | Jobs | Advertise
© 2008 CNET Networks, Inc., a CBS Company. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use