Love is kind . This from a man who was ignored, scorned, and abused, whose authority was questioned by the very congregations that he had founded. This from a man who had to deal with the slow of mind and the hard of heart. This to people who did not want to give him the time of day or wanted to give him just a hard time. Love is patient.
Love is kind.
Patience and kindness of course do not come naturally, not for Paul, not for me, nor I suspect for some of you. I do not think that we are instinctively patient. I do not think that kindness is a reflex. What we do naturally is to write off those who ignore us or to strike back at those who oppose us. I once served the church in Corinth.