Charity Strife - "Suffereth Long"

I am going to expound upon every phrase in the scripture I am memorizing. I actually did this once when I was in the MTC. So I will write down what I wrote then and embellish a bit.

For charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, and is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in truth, believeth all things, beareth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. 

"Suffereth Long"

From my MTC journal:

"What does it mean to suffer long? Not get angry at little things - to keep up when I can't visualize the fruits of the seeds I'm planting now. To love my companion no matter what he does - to lovingly lead - not by words, but by example, and but doing and by helping him with what he needs. Not complaining when the language doesn't come, or when I am tired, or if someone does something that I may not do, or when someone else uses their agency to chose against what my agency would choose. To choose the right way always. Always be obedient no matter how stupid you look. To make a difference, you have to be different. To pick up my wagon and head west, to push the train (Tall Tale), to plow forward, to pray when no answers come, to BE the Lord's wind, to love no matter what...come what may. To read when nothing comes. To pray when the Spirit isn't there, to work, work, work! And to let the Lord's will be done, by trusting that the answer is coming at exactly the right time which will be the very best in my life as well as the Lord's timing." 

Today, I would say that to suffer long doesn't necessarily mean that the Lord wants us to suffer and be miserable. It doesn't mean what is portrayed by the monks in Monte Python and the Holy Grail who beat themselves because they are trying to suffer. This is false doctrine. I believe that God only wants us to become. And some of that becoming will only come after some suffering. The point is not to suffer. The point is to become. God wants our heart. Like Elder Hafen said in his epic talk about the atonement:

"We can have eternal life if we really want it, but only if there is nothing else we want more."

I believe in becoming. And believing in our potential to become like our Savior. He definitely suffered long.

"And the world, because of their iniquity, shall judge him to be a thing of naught; wherefore they scourge him, and he suffereth it; and the smite him, and he suffereth it. Yea, they spit upon him, and he suffereth it, because of his loving kindness and his long-suffering towards the children of men." (1 Nephi 19:9)