Thursday, August 3, 2017

August 3 Thought for the day...ugh...you want me to have patience?


Road rage, quick boiling points, accidents at traffic lights, yelling at the kids, your spouse, employer/employee, at the root of most of these is one thing, a lack of patience!

"But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience...." Galatians 5:22

Have you ever prayed this or something similar, "Lord deliver me from this person! I am tired of dealing with their whining, rebellion, and basic bad attitude. I am so tired of dealing with them I would rather walk away than deal with them anymore. Please give me the patience to endure!  If we were, to be honest, we all have prayed that prayer or something very similar in the past. Some people we do need to just walk away from because they really don't want help. Others, we simply need to be patient.

It is very easy to be patient with people who appreciate us. Those who listen to our counsel, appreciate the wisdom, help, time, finances, and/or energy we give them. It is easy to be Christ-like with them, But there are those who are rebellious, broken, hurting and seem uninterested but God sends them our way, and we need to be just as Christ-like with them.

The word Paul uses here translated "patience" mean the restraint of anger. The KJV calls it long suffering. It stresses taking a very long time before anger arises. Isn't that really what patience is about? Patience like all of the other portions of the fruit of the Spirit is available to us and is a choice for us. In his letter to the Colossian church, Paul says "Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 3:12" Paul is making it very clear that even though we are full of the Holy Spirit, we must choose to clothe or put on "patience." Isn't that interesting? Clothes don't jump out of the closet and throw themselves on you. You make a choice every day to dress.

It is our responsibility as Christians to be patient. Who knows how God will impact the life of a person. I have been amazed at how some of the people in my life have turned out for both the good and the bad. Most of it comes down to patience or the lack of. You never can tell just what the Lord will so choose each day to clothe yourself in patience and bless others by your decision!

Please also, if someone you have been dealing with for a long time is not changing, pray and see if it is not the time to change that relationship so either someone else can help them or they need time away from you to realize they need to choose to change.

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