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The Fruit of the Spirit - Patience

The Fruit of the Spirit - Patience

Mike Willis

 

The Greek word that appears as the fourth fruit of the Spirit is a compound word makrothumia, made up of makros (long) and thumos (passion, anger, wrath, rage). We speak of someone having a “short temper,” but we do not use its opposite, “long temper.” The Greek language uses makrothumia to describe someone who has “patience, steadfastness, endurance” and one who has “forebearance, patience toward others” (BDAG, 488).

 

The word makrothumia is also used to describe an attribute of God.“What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience (makrothumia) vessels of wrath prepared for destruction” (Rom. 9:22). God is described in the Old Testament as being “slow to anger” at least five times (Neh. 9:17; Psa. 103:8; 145:8; Jonah 4:2; Nah. 1:3). Were He a hot-headed, short tempered God, no one would be saved.

 

God showed His longsuffering when he waited for Noah to build the ark. Peter wrote that God showed his “patience” (makrothumia) when He waited for the many years it took Noah and his family to build the ark before He sent the flood (1 Pet. 3:20). In 2 Peter 3:15 the apostle said “count the patience (makrothumia) of our Lord as salvation.” Were God not longsuffering toward us, none of us would be saved. If you should choose to be saved today, remember that God has been patient in allowing you to live till today, so that you can be saved. God said about that generation that lived before the Flood, “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever” (Gen. 6:3). “Or do you presume on the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience (makrothumia), not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” (Rom. 2:4). The second coming of the Lord shows that God’s patience can be exhausted: “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief" (2 Pet. 3:9-10). This indicates that while God is patient, there will eventually be a time of judgment.

 

Man’s patience with others is grounded in God’s patience toward us. Jesus gave the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant to teach men to show patience and forgiveness to one another.

 

“Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart” (Matt. 18:23-35).

 

We must “forgive as the Lord forgave you” (Col. 3:13). Paul said about Jesus, “But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience (makrothumia) as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life” (1 Tim. 1:16). In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul said, “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience (makrothumia), bearing with one another in love” (Eph. 4:1-2). All of us have warts that defile our spiritual appearance. If we cannot live with the shortcomings of our fellow man, we are not manifesting the spirit of Christ!

 

I like a meme that I copied from a post on Facebook. I don’t know who wrote it or posted it, but here is what it says:

 

Fact

Any couple who has a healthy marriage and has lasted 20, 30, or even 50 years did NOT stay happily married based off of luck. They sacrificed. They forgave. They rebuilt truth when it was broken. They kept dating each other. They listened. They apologized. They got help when they were stuck. They made time for each other. They learned how to communicate. They cared more about their marriage than their pride. Do not think you can have your happily ever after without some blood, sweat and tears. We have a good marriage because we work at it . . . 365 days a year!

 

We know what patience with the faults of each other means in marriage, the most intimate of our human relationships. Peter summed it up like this:  “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins” (1 Pet. 4:8). That same kind of love that it takes for a marriage to work is required in other human relationships. Love will be necessary for us to forgive one another. Jesus says that there is no forgiveness for the one who is unwilling to forgive others. Be patient with one another. It is a fruit of the Spirit.

 

Don’t kid yourself! You can control your fiery temper! When a telephone call comes in a middle of a fight, one is able to immediately stop shouting and screaming and calmly say, “Hello!” We can control out outbursts of anger.