Someone said, “the church would be great if it were not for the people.”  The problem, of course, is that the church is people—God’s people, and I believe that they are the best people in the world.  Still, the church is made up of people who are plagued with flaws.  We all have weaknesses.  We do and say the wrong things sometimes.  Even when we are trying to be helpful, we do not always get things right.

What should we do when brethren get on our nerves?  Paul addresses this in his great description of love in 1 Corinthians 13.  Paul personifies love, telling us how it would act if it were a person.  Every description he gives of love is important and necessary for us to apply to our lives, but I am especially interested in what he says in verse seven.  He simply wrote, “Love bears all things.”

The word bear is stegō and refers to enduring patiently.  That is what we should have with one another.  Do brethren sometimes let you down?  Yes, but, and I hate to shock you, you probably let other brethren down from time to time as well.  The important thing is how we respond when this happens.  Do we count the brother or sister as an enemy?  No!  Remember, we are God’s spiritual family.  We are all siblings in Christ.  Jesus is our big brother (Hebrews 2:11-12), and God is our heavenly Father.  What does our Father want us to do?  Isn’t pleasing Him the most important thing?  He wants us to bear with our brethren by patiently enduring their shortcomings, even when they disappoint us.

Now, to be clear, I am not talking about tolerating sin.  Paul reminds us not to have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but, instead, expose it (Ephesians 5:11).  When brethren sin, we can bear with them in another way, that is, by bearing the burden of their sin.  How do we do that?  We do so by attempting to restore them to God (Galatians 6:1-2).

Sometimes brethren disappoint us simply because they show themselves to be weak in faith.  This is where we can show patient endurance.  We should not write them off as if they are destined to always be weak.  We should help them to grow in any way that we can.  If you are strong in the faith, volunteer to study with them and help them to be stronger?

If it is a situation like Paul discussed in Romans 14, do not try to force them to see things your way, even if you know you are right.  If it is not a doctrinal issue, agree to disagree and don’t make a big deal about it.  Remember the questions that Paul asked.  “Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God” (Romans 14:10).

Some brethren have character flaws.  Maybe they are arrogant.  Maybe they talk too much.  I am not referring to gossiping here, they are just chatterboxes, and it is irritating.  Truth be told, we probably all have something about our personality that rub others the wrong way.  What do we do about it?  Regarding personal shortcomings, we examine ourselves to see if we can discover what they are and try to fix them.  Regarding others, we bear with them.  Why?  Because that is the way love acts (1 Corinthians 13:7).  We gently instruct them when we can (2 Timothy 2:24-26), hoping they fix their faults; but, then, we just endure because we are family.

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.