Patience

So far in this series on the Fruit of the Spirit, we have looked at love, joy, and peace. This month, we are going to focus on everybody’s favorite topic, patience.

Colossians 3:12–13 CSB

12 Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a grievance against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you are also to forgive.

What is patience?

The Hebrew word is arek and it has the idea of time.

Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Hebrew (Old Testament) 800 אָרֵךְ

אָרֵךְ (ʾā·rēḵ)

אָרֵךְ (ʾā·rēḵ)

Hebrew - arek - patience or slow to anger.

It was used to talk about the length of a feather. It is related to the word for “to be long”. It was used to speak about a characteristic of God.

Numbers 14:18 CSB

18 The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in faithful love, forgiving iniquity and rebellion. But he will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ iniquity on the children to the third and fourth generation.

The Greek has two words translated for patience.

Greek - hypomonē - remaining firm under pressure or endure

hypomonē - remaining firm under pressure or endure

Greek - makrothymia - long suffering

makrothymialong suffering

It is this second word that is the word used for the fruit of the Spirit. It carries with it the idea of having godly reactions to a variety of situations. Let’s talk briefly about some situations that require us to be patient.

1. When we are mistreated we are to exercise patience. (, )

Sometimes we will experience abuse. The biblical response when suffering mistreat is to be longsuffering. Literally, “suffer long”. This aspect of patience calls us to suffer long the mistreatment of other without allowing roots of bitterness or resentment from springing up in our lives. This is modeled by Jesus.

1 Peter 2:23 CSB

23 when he was insulted, he did not insult in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten but entrusted himself to the one who judges justly.

How can we be patient while we are being mistreated?

We must remember that God is a just God.

Romans 12:19 CSB

19 Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for God’s wrath, because it is written, Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord.

Leave justice in the hands of God. God will deal justly, if not now, definitely at Jesus’ return. If we are convinced that God is a faithful God, then we are confident that he will work on our behalf.

2. When we are provoked, we are to exercise patience. (, )

I think this is something we all need to be reminded of, especially those of us who are online on social media. Sometimes the actions or words of other provoke us. Maybe even cause us to lose our temper. A biblical response to provocations is to be slow to anger and not easily angered.

James 1:19 CSB

19 My dear brothers and sisters, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger,

1 Corinthians 13:5 CSB

5 is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not irritable, and does not keep a record of wrongs.

It is not saying that you ignore the provocations by others, but rather that you deal with them in a godly manner.

3. When other don’t come through in the way they should, we are to exercise patience. (; )

Have you ever been irritated by someone? Has someone disappointed you? Even if their behavior wasn’t directly impacting you, it affects us and irritates us. Some translations of the Bible use the word “forbearance” to talk about this. Others say “bearing with”.

Ephesians 4:2 CSB

2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,

Colossians 3:13 CSB

13 bearing with one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a grievance against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you are also to forgive.

It literally means “to put up with”. It is about protecting our unity. I would use the word “tolerance”, but that word has been completely co-opted today.

4. When we wait on the Lord, we exercise patience.

It is hard to allow God’s plan to work in our life. We want it to happen now. Think of Abraham. Think of Saul. We have to wait on the Lord, believe his promises, and obey his will. Leave the results to God.

5. When we experience the pressures of life, we are to exercise patience. (

This is an important idea. “The fruit of patience in all its aspects is a fruit that is most intimately associated with our devotion to God.” (Bridges, p. 97) Now, I want to balance this. This is by no means a call to be a push-over or door mat. As the book of Ecclesiastes say, there is a time for everything. There are times to be long-suffering and there are times to defend yourself. Ask God for wisdom in every situation about what is appropriate course of action.

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