• ‘Clothe Yourselves With Long-Suffering’
    The Watchtower—2001 | November 1

    • “Love Is Long-Suffering”

      9. Why, possibly, did Paul tell the Corinthians that “love is long-suffering”?

      9 Paul showed that a special relationship exists between love and long-suffering when he stated: “Love is long-suffering.” (1 Corinthians 13:4) One Bible scholar, Albert Barnes, suggests that Paul emphasized this in view of the contention and strife that existed in the Christian congregation in Corinth. (1 Corinthians 1:11, 12) Barnes points out: “The word here used [for long-suffering] is opposed to haste: to passionate expressions and thoughts, and to irritability. It denotes the state of mind which can BEAR LONG when oppressed, provoked.” Love and long-suffering still contribute greatly to the peace of the Christian congregation.

      10. (a) In what way does love help us to be long-suffering, and what counsel does the apostle Paul give in this regard? (b) What comment did a Bible scholar make on God’s long-suffering and kindness? (See footnote.)

      10 “Love is long-suffering and kind. Love . . . does not look for its own interests, does not become provoked.” Hence, in many ways, love helps us to be long-suffering.a (1 Corinthians 13:4, 5) Love enables us patiently to put up with one another and remember that we are all imperfect and have faults and failings. It helps us to be considerate and forgiving. The apostle Paul encourages us to walk “with complete lowliness of mind and mildness, with long-suffering, putting up with one another in love, earnestly endeavoring to observe the oneness of the spirit in the uniting bond of peace.”​—Ephesians 4:1-3.

  • ‘Clothe Yourselves With Long-Suffering’
    The Watchtower—2001 | November 1

    • a Commenting on Paul’s statement that “love is long-suffering and kind,” Bible scholar Gordon D. Fee writes: “In Pauline theology they [long-suffering and kindness] represent the two sides of the divine attitude toward humankind (cf. Rom. 2:4). On the one hand, God’s loving forbearance is demonstrated by his holding back his wrath toward human rebellion; on the other hand, his kindness is found in the thousandfold expressions of his mercy. Thus Paul’s description of love begins with this twofold description of God, who through Christ has shown himself forbearing and kind toward those who deserve divine judgment.”