PATIENCE

Patience is a fruit of the Holy Spirit from the second cluster. Those fruits which especially speak to our relationships with other people.

What it means

The Greek word is makrothumia. Makrothumia is a combination of makros, meaning long, and thumos, meaning temper. It means to hold my temper for a long time. Synonyms would include forbearance and long suffering. Its the power I have to undergo pain, trouble, or discomfort without protesting.

I like the King James Version. It uses the word long suffering for makrothumia in Galatians 5:22. Long suffering, to suffer for a long time. The suffering may be as simple as waiting in line longer than I would like. Or it might be suffering chronic pain for months or years.

It might be suffering for a long time waiting for God to change the heart of someone I love. Or it might be waiting for an opportunity. Or it might be waiting for God to help me change my attitude.

Why its important

Patience is important because God is patient. And God wants me to be like Him. God is particularly patient with those are the objects of His wrath (Romans 9:22). God is patient because He wants everyone to repent of their sins and accept the work of Jesus Christ for salvation (Romans 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9, 15).

Patience is important because I am always relating to people. Relating with people requires patience. If God is patient with people who are the objects of His wrath. I can be patient with people who are just being people.

Patience is part of love. 1 Corinthians 13 is the most well known chapter in the Bible on love. While defining love, Paul started with “Love is patient, . . .” (verse 4). If I am going to love people, I have to be patient.

Patience is part of endurance. Endurance and patience are closely related in the Bible. Patience usually requires endurance. It might be endurance of a few extra seconds. Like when I am told to count to ten before acting or speaking. It might be endurance of a few extra minutes so I can listen to what the other person is really saying. It might be endurance of a few extra hours or days or weeks or months, depending on the situation.

I want to be a disciple of Jesus Christ for the length of my life. I want to endure. And endurance takes patience.

How to do it

Frankly, patience is hard for me. I don't like to pray for patience. I don't like to think about patience. Generally, I am not a patient man. I want things now. I don't want to wait.

Even as a young believer in Jesus Christ, I knew patience was important. I prayed regularly for patience. And you know what? God provided me lots of opportunities to practice. Too many opportunities, it seemed like to me.

Here are some of my suggestions for practicing patience.

1. For me to practice patience, I need to pray for patience. I know opportunities will come to demonstrate this fruit and I need to pray for the strength and wisdom to respond patiently.

2. I need to ask God to show me when I am being tested. In the Bible, patience is closely related to testing. The easiest time for those around me to see if I am demonstrating patience or not is when I am being tested. If I am angry and demanding, patience is probably not present.

Patience is one of those areas where people can see that I am different. If I am patient in situations where others are not, people will see that my life is different and wonder why. They may even ask why I respond differently. That would be a great bonus. It rarely happens. But its possible and God wants people to see the difference in my life.

3. I pray for things that I know will take a long time to happen. I started praying for my children's future spouses before they were born. I pray for the spiritual great-grandchildren of those I mentor. I know these things will take years. By praying for them regularly, I develop patience.

4. I pray for the salvation of people who seem to be very far from accepting Christ as their savior. This one is similar to #3. I know a lot of people who seem far from accepting Jesus Christ. I would love to be able to share the gospel with them and walk them into the kingdom of God. I would like to argue them in, beg them in, guilt them in or bribe them in. I would rather not wait them in.

Waiting and praying for them develops my patience. I am sure that arguing, begging, guilting and bribing are all still part of my interactions, either consciously or unconsciously. But patient praying has become a greater part of my plan over the years.

5. I tell God I am looking forward to the second coming of Jesus Christ. James tells me I should look forward to that with patience. (James 5:7,8) Knowing that Jesus Christ is coming back to earth again gives me hope. It gives me hope to continue to work for His kingdom while I am on earth. Hope helps me be patient.

Knowing that God has complete wisdom and will send Jesus back at exactly the right time is comforting. The early disciples were looking for Jesus to come back 2000 years ago. If people have been waiting 2000 years, I can wait as long as I need to. That helps me develop patience.

6. Just get older. As I grow older, I become more patient than when I was younger. I may not be as patient as I should be for my age, but I am more patient than I was. Experience allows me to see the benefits of a patient response over a non-patient response.

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