What Does the Bible Say About Patience?
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Patience or long-suffering is something that is spoken about quite often when it comes to the life of the Christian. We need patience when persecuted for our faith; we need patience when someone is irritating us; we need it for those who sin against us.
We need patience in our relationships; husbands and wives; parents towards their children; at work and even with people in church.
We need patience in how we respond. Before we send text messages or emails, or post our feelings or rebutle on social media, we need patience in certain difficult situations, health concerns, etc.
What is Biblical Patience?
What is Biblical Patience?
Hebrew Word - 'Ārēḵ - aw-rake'
Long (pinions)
Patient, slow to anger
Greek Word - Makrothymia - mak-roth-oo-mee'-ah
Patience, endurance, constancy, steadfastness, perseverance
Patience is the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset
1. Who in the Bible implements remarkable Patience?
Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth;
The Lord is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.
These verses indicate that God is slow to anger - He is patient. Why would God be angry? What could He possibily be upset about? Sin! Everytime we sin we are afflicting and offending God. Even one teeny tiny sin against God deserves instant death.
But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark; and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided.
God was so distraught over sinful creation that instead of completely wiping out all of mankind He kept a remnant before the flood. He found Noah to be a righteous, and gave mankind another opportunity through Noah’s family to start again - with the hope that man - whom is made in the image of God - would want to have a relationship with Him. But, instead man continued to sin against God, but because of God’s Love and diety He continued and continues to be patient with man.
Now when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us a god who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”
Our world is very similar insome respects like Israel. If they do not get what they want they become impatient....
Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you, And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; How blessed are all those who long for Him. O people in Zion, inhabitant in Jerusalem, you will weep no longer. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you. Although the Lord has given you bread of privation and water of oppression, He, your Teacher will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes will behold your Teacher.
Even the kings of Israel continued in disobedience and were sent the Prophets to warn Israel to turn back to God for God is patient - This verse explains that God longs to be gracious - He longs to be patient. However, this doesn’t mean that God doesn’t ordain consequences or dish out punishment. But, it does highlight patience.
2. How hard is it to not get angry and satisfy anger in a painful situation?
Why do we need Patience?
Why do we need Patience?
It can be extremely hard to implement patience. No one likes to be irritated or hurt or upset or angry. Especially when it is undeserved. Wait a minute! God’s patience towards us is undeserved! God is slow in anger with man and delays His wrath to give man time to repent and believe in Him. God would be justified in His anger towards sin. Man is pretty sinful! However - God calls us to be..... Patient.
First things First! We are called to be patient.
This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger;
with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love,
Part of being made in the image of God means we must imitate Him - We imitate Him by answering the call to be like Christ.
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.
3. Why do you think you need Patience? Think about the definition for minute.
It matures us. To be like Christ. To depend of God. To glorify God. To be a walking testimony for God. To be a light. To provide others with hope, and encouragement.
Sanctification
to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.’
We need patience to endure even the simplest trials or pains that are apart of life.
Persecution
“If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.
Difficult Times
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
Byproducts of Patience
Byproducts of Patience
Endurance
3531 μένω (menō): vb.; ≡ Str 3306; TDNT 4.574—1. LN 85.55 stay, remain, abide (Ac 27:31); 2. LN 85.60 wait for, remain in a place or state, and expect something in future (Ac 20:5); 3. LN 13.89 continue to exist, remain in existence (Mt 11:23); 4. LN 68.11 keep on, continue in an activity or state, as an aspect of an action (2Jn 9), note there may be overlap of verses and entries
“You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.
Hear Jesus is explaining to the apostles that they will endure hardships and we will too. It’s almost a guarantee. People hated the 12 and hate us too, simply because of who Christ is and that we follow Him. In essence this verse is about beleieving and being hated for it. However, Christ charged His apostles and us to implement patience because it results in endurance which implies that our hope is in the return of Christ, where all things will be made new. The short term view of hope is understanding and knowing that Christ is enduring with you.
4. Who did Christ say He was going to send to help us in John 16:7?
Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, Nor faint when you are reproved by Him; For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He scourges every son whom He receives.” It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
We need endurance in order to mature as Christians! Can you imagine if we gave up because something was to hard to handle?
Marathon - patience “I know this is gonna be tought; endurance “Keep moving - Your almost finished”
Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
When we endure we find blessing with God.
For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.
Patience results and manifest in Steadfastness.
Steadfastness
1612 ἑδραῖος (hedraios), αία (aia), αῖον (aion): adj.; ≡ Str 1476; TDNT 2.362—LN 31.92 being firm, steadfast, concluding (a matter) with conviction (1Co 7:37; 15:58; Col 1:23+)Swanson, James. Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Greek (New Testament) 1997 : n. pag. Print.
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.
For even though I am absent in body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Christ.
We are to stand firm in what? Our hope which is our faith in the established work of Christ. Understand this; When Christ died His death established the believers regeneration - We were made new - present tense, justified - considered not guilty, we have been imputed righteousness, we are reconcilation with God - we now have instant access to God via the Holy Spirit - and when Christ returns we will be perfected, and spend eternity with Him.
5. What are some disciplines that can help us remain firm in our faith?
All of those things will help us persevere -
Perseverance
To persevere means to “persist in something,” in spite of persecution, opposition, or discouragement. Among several Greek expressions, the usual word, proskartereō, has the root meaning “to adhere steadfastly” (Mark 3:9; Acts 8:13; 10:7; Rom. 13:6), and is translated “to be devoted,” “to continue [in something],” “to be constant,” “to be steadfast,” and “to persevere.”
So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us.
He who tills his land will have plenty of bread, But he who pursues worthless things lacks sense.
The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage, But everyone who is hasty comes surely to poverty.
How do we do Patience?
How do we do Patience?
Paul encourages his hearers to persist and keep on with what they were taught, namely, everything that the Gospel of Christ teaches and commands.
We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,
Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.
The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer.
Jesus the Perfect Patience
Jesus the Perfect Patience
Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
“Be dressed in readiness, and keep your lamps lit. “Be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks. “Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find on the alert when he comes; truly I say to you, that he will gird himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and will come up and wait on them. “Whether he comes in the second watch, or even in the third, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves. “But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be broken into. “You too, be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect.”
Jesus is patient with us therefore we need to be patient with others.
Love gentleness and compassion. Our ways we implement or the catalyst to implementing patients