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Love is Patient
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“Wedding vows are under a vicious attack.” 1
Corinthians 13, the famous love chapter in Scripture, begins its list of
attributes with the words “love is patient.” For the Christian
celebrating decades of marriage — or just getting married — it’s not about
passion and romance; it’s about patience in sickness and health, in wealth and
want, for better or for worse. No matter how horribly depressing and
difficult things are, cling to God’s grace moment-by-moment
Joni and Friends
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not
boast, it is not proud.” - 1 Corinthians 13:4
If you’re
shopping for an anniversary this month, you’ll find a large selection of
beautiful, expensive cards describing your spouse as the most virtuous,
fault-free, brave, and lovely person on the planet.
But the
truth is — can I say this in print? — it’s often difficult to love your spouse.
This is
precisely why 1 Corinthians 13, the famous love chapter in Scripture, begins
its list of attributes with the words “love is patient.”
For the
Christian celebrating decades of marriage — or just getting married — it’s not
about passion and romance; it’s about patience in sickness and health, in
wealth and want, for better or for worse.
What’s
more, in any relationship, God asks you to show patience with other’s
shortcomings, to display mercy toward them, to release them from meeting all
your righteous expectations, to bear with their weaknesses, and to not be
itching to correct them.
The fact
is, when you love someone with patience, you love them as God loves you.
Lord Jesus, thank You for Your patient love for me through the years.
You love me when I am unlovable.
You watch over me when I am preoccupied with myself.
You forgive me when I commit the same old tiresome sins right after I
have confessed them.
I don’t know how else to say it, but help me to love like You do.
Joni & Ken: An Untold Love Story
“No matter how horribly depressing and difficult things were, we clung
to God’s grace moment-by-moment.” -
Joni Eareckson Tada
Marriage
and disability is no easy union. Approximately 90% of marriages affected by
disability end in divorce, but after more than 30 years of marriage, Joni and
Ken are breaking the odds. But that doesn’t mean Joni and Ken have not faced
their fair share of troubles.
When
Zondervan Publishing wanted Joni and Ken to write a book together and to call
it Joni & Ken: An Untold Love Story, it was the first time Joni
and Ken had ever written something together. Immediately they were motivated to
share how God used their struggles against breast cancer, quadriplegia,
depression, and chronic pain to deepen their intimacy with Him and with each
other.
“Wedding
vows are under a vicious attack.”
When
asked “Why do you want to write this book?” Joni and Ken
simply said: wedding vows are under a vicious attack today, and we want to help
married couples grasp the sufficiency of Christ “in sickness and in
health” and “for better or for worse.”
Joni
& Ken: An Untold Love Story offers
readers a rare and candid account of a marriage journey through quadriplegia,
depression, pain, and cancer. The book is a testimony to all the grace and
faithfulness found in God alone.
“Look, this is a book for guys; it’s a challenge to men to step up to
the plate and make good on their vows.” - Ken
Tada
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