fShare

Tweet

Patience is a fruit of the Spirit. Patience is a powerful witness to unbelievers. It is like a muscle—the more you need to use it, the stronger it gets. Allow me to encourage you to begin building a foundation for a patient lifestyle by being patient with yourself. When you make mistakes, receive mercy from God and press on toward the finish line.

The Bible says in Hebrews 6:12 that we inherit the promises through faith and patience. Now inheritance does not require any effort on our part. It only requires waiting until the appointed time.

For example, you may believe, or have faith, that a relative has willed you an inheritance, but you must have patience and wait for the proper time to receive it. Faith and patience are partners. They work together to bring the desired result.

James 1:2,3 (AMP) says that we are to be joyful when we "encounter trials of any sort" knowing that "the proving of your faith" brings out patience. And when patience has had her perfect work, we will be a people "perfectly and fully developed ... lacking in nothing." Wow! What a Scripture!

The Greek word for "patience" in this verse, hupomone, means the kind of "patience which grows only in trial." In other words, how can we grow in patience unless we are required to wait for something we want or endure something we do not want while we are waiting?

When we have trials, we grow, or at least we can grow, if we "let patience have her perfect work" (James 1:4). Resistance, bitterness, and running away from every hard place do not produce patience. James 1:4 (AMP) says that we can be perfectly developed and lacking in (or "wanting nothing" KJV) once patience has done a thorough work. This is simple to see. If a person is totally patient, he or she can be peaceful and joyful in any situation.

I am certainly not perfect in patience, but I have grown a lot. There was a time when I was extremely impatient, and I did not wait well. I finally realized that God was not going to change, so I decided I had better change and adapt to His ways. He says that we receive by faith and patience, so I decided to let patience develop in me. I have grown in patience, and at an equal rate, I have gained peace and joy.

Patience is a fruit of the Spirit. Patience is a powerful witness to unbelievers. It is like a muscle—the more you need to use it, the stronger it gets. Then finally, it is fully developed, and you only have to do exercises to keep yourself toned up in the area of patience—various and sundry things that do not happen as planned like slow people in front of you, a stalled car on the highway, not understanding what is happening in your life or needing answers that seem slow in coming.

All of these things help us in the end, even though they are hard when we are going through them. If we can see this, it will give us a new appreciation for patience. Hebrews 12:1 (AMP) encourages us saying, "Let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us." Every race has a finish line. You will cross the finish line, but Hebrews tells us how to run the race.

Be Patient With Yourself
Allow me to encourage you to begin building a foundation for a patient lifestyle by being patient with yourself. When you make mistakes, receive mercy from God and press on toward the finish line.

Be patient with yourself while you are overcoming your weaknesses. Impatience breeds frustration, and frustration moves us into a realm of emotions which are unstable. Then we end up making more mistakes than if we had given ourselves some patience in the first place.

People improve more rapidly under patience than under pressure! Be generous with patience. Give it away freely to yourself and others. You will find the benefits delightful. Luke 8:15 (AMP) says, "steadily bring forth fruit with patience."