Patience

Galatians 5:22-23 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering (patience), gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”

If you ever use the phrase “I’m loosing my patience” around me, my automatic reply will be “good thing you’re not a Doctor”. This is one of my favorite jokes and I use it whenever I get the opportunity, and I do get a lot of opportunities. We live in an very impatience culture. Impatience seems like the normal response when things in life don’t go our way. We have a lot of excuses for our impatience, we say things like “I just don’t like to wait” or “There’s no reason for this to take so long”. But patience is more than waiting. Patience is a mindset that helps us to focus on the important aspects of life. Patience is an under valued virtue in today’s culture and one that the church, more than ever, needs to cultivate.

The Scripture, particularly the New Testament, has some pointed things to say about patience. There are three greek words used in the New Testament that are translated as the English words “Endurance”, “Long-suffering” and “Patience”. With these words the New Testament paints a picture of patience in the life of the Believer. The Scripture tells us that patience in the life of the Believer helps them stands firm in their believes, helps them keep their course when faced with opposition or trials, and helps them controls their actions in the face of opposition. Also, according to Colossians 1:11 the Believer are to be patience and long-suffering with joyfulness. The Scripture also tells us in 1 Cor 13:4 that “Love is patient”. We as Believers know we need to show Love, but how often do we connect the idea of patience to Love? There are many more examples in the Scriptures of the importance of patience in the life of the Believer. It is clear from Scripture that patience should be a defining characteristic in the life of a Believer.

So why do we as Believers struggle with patience? I wish I had the answer to that question, but I don’t. For me it starts with valuing patience and recognizing the role that the Scripture says it should play in my life. Other ideas that help me build patience are 1) submitting my need for control to God and waiting on His timing, 2) recognizing that patience is a protective virtue that helps us to keep away from sin, and 3) if patience is a fruit of the Spirit, what is impatience a fruit of? Do you struggle with patience? Do you think of be patient as being loving? Do you think of being patient as displaying God’s character?