Love @ Work is Patient

 We’re quite prepared to love others so long as they shape up quickly to our expectations. “Love is patient” says 1 Corinthians 13:4. That’s not the kind of love most of us experience on a daily basis is it?

After the roaring success of my series on the Fruit of the Spirit @ Work (success, that is, in helping me to see how far I have to go yet) I thought I’d write a related series on love, from the famous “love chapter” of the Bible - 1 Corinthians 13. Starting from the top … “love is patient”.

Actually this is also part of the fruit of the Spirit and I somewhat addressed it in http://faithatworkplace.blogspot.com/2010/04/fruit-of-spirit-work-patience.html. Focusing a bit more on how this is an attribute of love (the “agape” kind that is unique to Jesus and those who have His Spirit) gives a slightly different twist though. In the workplace, it says a lot about how we look at our co-workers, and it comes from looking at them through God’s eyes, as it were. We see people who are created uniquely by God, who have challenges that are different from ours, but no less difficult. We see people who have different personalities, skills, motivations, and experiences. We also see people who are no less (but no more) fallible than us – in other words, people who are equally prone to sin.

When we see these things, it is easier to be patient. When an employee doesn’t immediately respond to some coaching, we will take the time to find out why. Of course, it could be that they simply refuse and then consequences may be necessary – but even then, it is in the realization that their sin is no worse than ours. When a colleague doesn’t pull their weight, leaving us more than our share of the work, patient love will tell them how we feel but without rancor and without condemnation. Patient love is perfectly entitled to ask for more help, but is willing to forgive, and to forgive, and to forgive. If work that needs to be done isn’t getting done, we may have to take other action when it becomes clear nothing will change, but we do it as constructively and supportively of our colleague as possible.

This gets difficult. I have an employee who struggles with getting done things that are new to him – he tends to put them to one side rather than focusing on determining how to approach the problem, or asking for help. We’ve talked about this before, and my boss has lost patience. If my love for him is to be patient, I need to take the time (patience by definition seems to include giving some of my time) to help him understand the issue, to encourage him to have the confidence to try, and to stay on top of his progress. I started that today. By God’s grace (but not my own efforts) I can continue.

If we’re to exhibit the love of God at work, and it is clear to me that we’re called to do so as a part of our Kingdom mission, then we need to be patient. And that’s just the beginning …