The Fruit of the Spirit - Longsuffering

Today we are continuing our series on The Fruit of the Spirit. So far we’ve looked at the first three fruits found in Galatians chapter 5.

Galatians 5:22–23 NKJV

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

We’ve looked at the God kind of love. The agape love that is unconditional. It’s that love that sent Jesus to die for our sins so that we could be reconciled back into right standing with God. So the fruit of love operating in our lives gives us the ability to love our enemies and do good to those who don’t necessarily like us. Then we looked at the fruit of joy. Joy comes from us realizing everything that we have from God. We have freedom from sin and we are now children of the most high God. Best part is that we will spend eternity with Him. Last week we looked at peace. It’s that peace that we all need right now in this hectic, unstable world we live in. the fruit of peace comes as we build our relationship with Jesus. He has given us the peace that the world cannot give. The peace that passes our understanding and keeps our hearts at peace when we should be freaking out. That peace is what we can give to our families, our friends, our neighbors, our communities and the world.

Today, we are going to look at the fruit of longsuffering. Some translations say patience. Either way it takes a while to develop. Problem is we all want patience, but we want it NOW! We let’s begin turn with me in your Bibles to

1 Thessalonians 5:14–15 AMP

14 And we earnestly beseech you, brethren, admonish (warn and seriously advise) those who are out of line [the loafers, the disorderly, and the unruly]; encourage the timid and fainthearted, help and give your support to the weak souls, [and] be very patient with everybody [always keeping your temper]. 15 See that none of you repays another with evil for evil, but always aim to show kindness and seek to do good to one another and to everybody.

1. We never “get even” when we operate in the fruit of longsuffering!

Look again at what it says in verse 15. “See that none of you repays another with evil for evil.” The Greek word used in Galatians 5:22 for longsuffering is the word: makrothymia. That word as It is used in this passage of scripture means: patience, forbearance, long-suffering, slowness in avenging wrongs. The word forbearance means: patience, restraint and tolerance. So the fruit of longsuffering is not just being patient it means we never get even. We never get revenge. Are you telling me that I just have to suck it up when someone does me wrong? Yes! Because God is the One that will take care of any issues that show up in life if we get out of His way and produce the fruit of longsuffering in us. Look at this passage found in

Romans 12:17–21 NLT

17 Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. 18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. 19 Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the Lord. 20 Instead, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.” 21 Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.

2. The fruit of longsuffering allows God to do His part!

Many times in life, we can get in the way of allowing God to do what He is able to do. If we take matters into our own hands, we actually stop God from moving. By not having patience in any given situation and by exercising “our right” to get even, we stop God from first developing this fruit in our lives and secondly from dealing with others in the perfect way that only He is capable of. Remember, God is the only One that can take care of the issues that show up in life if we get out of His way and produce the fruit of longsuffering in our lives.

James 4:5–10 MEV

5 Do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “He yearns jealously for the spirit that lives in us”? 6 But He gives more grace. For this reason it says: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Therefore submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to dejection. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

3. The fruit of longsuffering creates the attitude in us that is pleasing to God!

If there’s one thing that doesn’t go well with God, it is pride. The Bile tells us this in

Proverbs 16:18–19 (NLT)

18Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall.

19Better to live humbly with the poor than to share plunder with the proud.

We only have to see what pride does by looking at the account of satan. Satan was the archangel Lucifer before he was filled with pride. We can read about him in the book of Ezekiel chapter 28.

Ezekiel 28:11–19 The Living Bible

11 Then this further message came to me from the Lord: 12 “Son of dust, weep for the king of Tyre. Tell him, ‘The Lord God says: You were the perfection of wisdom and beauty. 13 You were in Eden, the garden of God; your clothing was bejeweled with every precious stone—ruby, topaz, diamond, chrysolite, onyx, jasper, sapphire, carbuncle, and emerald—all in beautiful settings of finest gold. They were given to you on the day you were created. 14 I appointed you to be the anointed Guardian Angel. You had access to the holy mountain of God. You walked among the stones of fire. 15 “ ‘You were perfect in all you did from the day you were created until that time when wrong was found in you. 16 Your great wealth filled you with internal turmoil, and you sinned. Therefore, I cast you out of the mountain of God like a common sinner. I destroyed you, O Guardian Angel, from the midst of the stones of fire. 17 Your heart was filled with pride because of all your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. Therefore, I have cast you down to the ground and exposed you helpless before the curious gaze of kings. 18 You defiled your holiness with lust for gain; therefore, I brought forth fire from your own actions and let it burn you to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all those watching you. 19 All who know you are appalled at your fate; you are an example of horror; you are destroyed forever.’ ”

So you can see what happens if we allow the wrong attitudes to be part of us. The fruit of longsuffering when developed in us keeps us from becoming prideful. Not getting revenge on wrongdoings takes humility not pride. Allowing God to do what He is able to do comes when we produce this fruit in our lives. So what is the key, what do we need to do, in order to produce the fruit of longsuffering in our lives?

James 1:2–4 TPT

2 My fellow believers, when it seems as though you are facing nothing but difficulties see it as an invaluable opportunity to experience the greatest joy that you can! 3 For you know that when your faith is tested it stirs up power within you to endure all things. 4 And then as your endurance grows even stronger it will release perfection into every part of your being until there is nothing missing and nothing lacking.

4. The right attitude during tough times develops longsuffering!

Now this is a very well known passage of scripture and yet it is one that we forget about in times of trouble. I like how this version says it. “My fellow believers, when it seems as though you are facing nothing but difficulties see it as an invaluable opportunity to experience the greatest joy that you can!” When we can put this into practice consistently, the fruit of longsuffering is the reward. Endurance grows, patience grows, forbearance grows, our lives grow, because we finally get it! God is with us no matter what and He will bring us through every single one of lives challenges. tThink about it is much easier to stress out and get full of anger than joy. We have to stop that! We need to cease trying to get even and instead work on producing this fruit of longsuffering! Stop worrying about “ the other guy” and start developing longsuffering in your life!