“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, PATIENCE, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control,” Galatians 5
“Come on! Hurry up! How long do I have to wait for you?! What are you; a turtle?! You have got to be the slowest person I know!”
Do you hate to wait…on people, at a traffic light, in a line at the store, to see a doctor, etc.? Do you grit your teeth, seethe, complain or gripe, stare disgustedly, or roll your eyes? Wait a minute! What do you do when people have to wait on YOU? Is that okay? Does that affect you as much? Are you often late and usually the last one to arrive? Hmmmm. What are you saying? That your time is more valuable than anyone else’s? Hmmmm again.
“A man’s wisdom give him PATIENCE; it is to his glory to overlook an offense.” Prov. 19:11
“The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and PATIENCE is better than pride.” Prov. 7:9
“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and PATIENCE.” Col. 3:12
Our world keeps us running hard and fast and we try to fit everything in 24 hours. We cram appointments, our children’s activities, church events and family obligations into every minute of the day and then wonder why we are always feeling like we can never catch up.
All of this activity can cause us to be IMPATIENT with our loved ones and others we come in contact with, can’t it? What can we do about that? Could we look at our involvement and schedule and simplify and reorganize our life? Have we made our schedule more important than our relationships? Let’s look back on the first verse above…”A man’s (or woman’s) wisdom give him/her PATIENCE…” Prov. 7:9a
Where do we find wisdom? “For the Lord gives wisdom , and from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.” Prov. 2:9
Now you know. Relax.