Colossians 3:12
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience
Devotional
We all have that one person in our life that exemplifies patience. For me, it’s most often my wife. I think that statement would shock her because she does not consider herself a patient person. The reason her patience is so miraculous to me is that the areas in life where she is able to be patient are the very areas that make me blow a fuse. For instance, how can someone be patient when your child cries for the 18th time that morning because they keep breaking the train toy they want to play with after you have fixed it 17 times? Or what about when your husband hides the train toy in the closet because it now bothers him? Yeah… My wife is a patient person.
I think we all share some aspect of patience that I’m talking about. There are some things that we can be patient all day about that would drive others crazy. What is it for you? For most of us when it comes to helping people with something we understand we can be patient, true patience though is the ability to work through those things that really grind your gears and let your love overwhelm your frustration.
Why is patience important? It is one of the most valuable characteristics that we can have and one of the ones that I am most thankful for. Imagine for a moment if God did not have patience. What would the world look like? What would life be like for us? If we really consider it I think we would all come to the conclusion that it just wouldn’t work out well for us, and most likely wouldn’t be here right now. Why? Because we are frustrating to deal with. Yes, humanity is frustrating. God gives us power, relationships, abundant resources, and even emotions like compassion and then what do we do? Fight, hoard, argue, and separate. If God didn’t have patience, we would be toast.
So why do we need to have patience? We have to have patience for each other because as Christians we know that the world God made is supposed to look a lot different than it does and that is frustrating. It’s frustrating to see our leaders squabble, to see the poor ignored, to see people die for no reasons other than greed, and it’s frustrating to see people turn their backs on God’s word. Without patience, we give up and simply consider people “unworthy” or “un-reachable”. We say to each other “I’m glad I’m not like them” or “those _____ are going straight to Hell” instead of doing what Jesus did- meet them with patience.
Renewal Challenge- Realize God’s Love.
I can’t predict what your week will look like, but I know that you will have an opportunity to be patient.
Today- the next time you would normally be frustrated or angered by a person, specific group of people, or idealogy, pray God would grant you his patience and care for those people.
Take that time to pray for them instead of writing them off. Remember the Gospel is for everyone.