The world is moving faster and faster. We wish things would slow down, but they don’t. It just gets worse. And the faster and more frenetic things get, the more transactional, the more impersonal our relationships become.

I recently attended the funeral of a close friend of mine. Warwick Isherwood. He was a lawyer who worked in several top tier law firms. Many years ago, I had worked for a firm who had used his services, and then, when I had my own company, we used his legal services as well.

Over the years he became a close friend, and sadly he passed away all too young from pancreatic cancer. What amazed me though as people got up to speak about him at the funeral, and as I chatted with different people at his wake, was how many other former clients of his had become good friends.

He was just that kind of guy. A tough, insightful lawyer, but patient and kind as well. He stood out head and shoulders above his peers, because he cared for other people. He delighted in mentoring young lawyers. He delighted in relating to people.

I left the funeral and went back to the airport, to fly home. I had a couple of hours to kill, so I sat down in a large food hall area in the airport, pulled out my laptop, did a bit of work, walked around. Now I love watching people in these large busy airports. All the food vendors selling their different meals. People wandering in, looking at the illuminated boards above the checkouts deciding which salad, or burger, or kebab they were going to have.

Going and sitting down at a table, most of them on their own, and wolfing down their dinner. At one fast food outlet, people even place their order on large touch screens.

It was all so … impersonal. So transactional. So typical of life today. People racing from one place to another, through the airport. Dinner time, food, race to the gate, airline staff in their uniforms. Transaction after transaction after transaction.

As I was boarding my flight, I couldn’t help but be struck by the stark difference between the way Warwick lived his life, and the transactional, impersonal world that we live in. In fact, it’s precisely because of that stark contrast that Warwick Isherwood stood out from the crowd.

And as I sat on the flight back home again, I had to ask myself, do I stand out from the crowd for those same reasons? Or am I so lost in this high speed world of impersonal transactions, that I just blend in with the crowd?

Those are questions that we should all be asking ourselves. I think. So what are the attributes of this genuine love that make a person stand out from the crowd for the right reasons. Well, let’s look at the first two that we find in 1 Cor 13:4

Love is patient; love is kind.

We don’t have to go to a dictionary to get a definition of patience and kindness. We all know what they are, right.

I remember when I first read that verse, it was like a dagger in my heart, because I am not naturally a patient or a kind person. Before I became a Christian I’d spent 20 years building a career as an IT consultant, and my plan was to climb to the top. I would roll over anyone who got in my way. I would climb over the top of anyone to get where I was going. I’d made grown men cry I was that tough and that brutal.

And let me tell you, that doesn’t all magically change the moment you become a Christian. Patience and kindness are things that I had to learn, and, let me tell you, are things that I am still learning.

I want you to imagine for a moment, a world in which everyone is patient and kind. Just stop and think what that would look like. In the traffic, rushing through the train station, at work, in the supermarket. So instead of people getting angry about the slow person walking in front of them, they slowed down a little bit, cut other people some slack.

Imagine the stress that would evaporate, instantly, if everyone were patient and kind. Now, I know what you’re thinking. Berni, get real. That’s never going to happen. And I agree with you, it’s not. But now imagine your world, if you consistently showed patience and kindness towards everyone else.

Think of the person who frustrates you most. Instead of getting hot under the collar, you just accept them for who they are and show them patience. And that rude individual that you deal with day after day, you make a decision to be kind to them. Not because you have to, but because that’s what love is … and Jesus died for you on that Cross bearing your sins when you didn’t deserve it.

How different would your world be? How much of the tension would just disappear out of your life if you just lived out this one half a verse of the Bible? How much more would people look at you and say – Wow, I like being around that person?

Psalm 86:15: But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.

That’s what God’s love to you and me is like. And I think right there is a good definition of patience: it’s being slow to anger, instead of flying off the handle. And in this high–speed, impersonal, transactional world, I sometimes think that patience and kindness, as simple as they are, are profound and amazing expressions of love. They are so rare in the supermarket and the train station and the airport. They stand out. Much in the same way as my friend Warwick stood out.

So here’s the challenge for you today. Take this short, half a verse and start living it. Love is patient; love is kind. Because when we start loving the people around us the way God loves us … the world starts to change. Their lives start to change. They start wanting to know what it is that we have that they’re missing out on.

How about it? Be patient, be kind … and see what happens.

Now I’m not saying it’s easy. No. Not at all. I have to think about it all the time. Why? Because of my nature. I have many weaknesses, but one of my strengths is that I get things done quickly. I’m the sort of person who helps others crash through obstacles to achieve what they want to achieve.

It’s just how I’m built. But that strength, has an equal and opposite weakness. It’s so easy for me to become impatient. In simple, silly little ways. I don’t know how it is where you live, but where I live, our trains are down in a subway. That means long, steep escalators up and down.

Now I like to stay fit and I hate to waste time, so I never stand still on an escalator. I always walk, preferably run, up and down them. The simple convention is that people who are just standing stand on the left, so that those who want to move quickly can do so on the right.

But time and time again, people break that convention, so I’m stuck. My instinct is to push pass them and make a gruff comment on the way through. Not because I hate them, but because they’re in my road, and remember, I’m the guy that crashes through obstacles to get things done. That’s my nature.

Do you see how simple and practical this is? Love is patient, love is kind. Now, I have had to find ways to deal with this underbelly of the crashing through strength in my life. And you need to find your Achilles heal, and figure out a new way of reacting and behaving to the triggers that cause you to lose your patience and become nasty.

I’ll say it again, patience and kindness is what love looks like. It stands out from the crowd. So … how about it?

I would love to send you a free copy of our latest life application booklet here at Christianityworks. It’s called Love Is – and it picks up some of the teaching in this series, and adds some questions at the end of each chapter, to help you apply God’s Word to your life.

You can request yours right now online at christianityworks.com. You’ll see that free offer right there, front and centre on the home page. Just click on it, pop in your name and email, and it will be winging its way to your inbox in just seconds. It really is that easy.

And while you’re there, don’t forget that you can have instant access to the free eDevotional – words of inspiration, hope and encouragement delivered right to your inbox each weekday. It’s all about helping you to live each day in victory.

So, the name of that free booklet is Love Is ... and that web address, is christianityworks.com.

Remember, love is patient …