Patience: It (needs to) run(s) in the Family!

"So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you." - Colossians 3:12-13

"Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father." - Colossians 3:17

Virtue:
1.moral excellence; goodness; righteousness.
2.conformity of one's life and conduct to moral and ethical principles; uprightness; rectitude.

"Patience is a virtue," as the old saying goes. I'm pretty sure that whoever originated that phrase was right! Patience is the conforming of one's life and conduct to a principle of God... just as love is a conforming of one's life to a godly principle. Just as joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control must be integrated into our daily lives and adopted as principles that glorify God! With that being said, let's move on.

Paul writes to the Colossians, "put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another..." I'd like to focus on that 'bearing with one another'. We are not only called to bear with one another, but to love one another. This seems to be hardest when we apply it to close relations! Family members are always the ones who seem to know just how much they have to do to push your buttons! They know just how far they can go before you lose control. This is where we must focus on gaining ground. I am of the opinion that strong family bonds are of the utmost importance. Do I mean that I am accomplished in this area? As usual... No! I cannot lay claim to having great patience. Now, if you were to ask me if I was patient with my friends, I would most likely say yes. Because it's almost always easier to be nice and understanding with someone else... But we must learn to show patience where it really counts, in the place where we are loved and accepted in spite of all of our other faults... the home!

Being patient with a brother or sister, parent or child, is a difficult thing sometimes... but that's why we don't do it alone. It is something that you must pray and ask God to help you with. For example: I work at a garden center... I have plenty of time, to think and to pray, while I water plants for several hours at work! During this time, yesterday, I was praying out loud (quietly, but still out loud, it helps me to concentrate) for God to help me with patience. If there is one fruit I struggle with the most it is probably patience. So, this week is going to be very interesting for me! Anyways, I prayed for these fruits to be grown in my life, that I may produce good fruit... and I know that instead of giving me patience, I am most likely going to have plenty of opportunities to exercise patience! There is no way that God would take a person like me, and just hand them patience. It would be too easy, and I would probably attribute it to myself. But if God works, slowly, through me and chisels away my impatience with every trial, then I will look back and see the hand of God at work in my life! That is how God does things! I'm not saying that He is incapable of, quite simply, "curing" us of our faults, but I don't think that He generally employs that method.

So, what about you? Where's your level of patience at? How much higher does it need to be? If you think that your patience level is high enough... you probably need to look again! If you pray that God would show you areas that you need to work on patience in... He will provide the opportunities for improvement... It's a scary thought, to think that we've finally understood, only to realize that we have so much further to go!

I have so much further to go! There is so much that I must learn about patience. I want God to show me things now! But He has called upon me to wait and rest in His promises... that He knows the plans that He has for me.

So, to summarize today's topic! Pray that God would help you to be more patient with your own family! Also, pray that God would show you areas that you struggle the most in, as far as patience goes. Ask Him to give you the strength to persevere... to work through difficulties, rather than to throw up your hands in defeat. It will take some time to learn to be patient with those that we know the best and that know us the best... because they are the one's that, when it's just us and them, we let our guard down with. We are less careful to be nice and polite with our own families. That's where we need the most work... in our most relaxed atmosphere.

Friends, this is all I have for today, but it's a lot to chew on! Take some time to think about areas that you need to be more patient with your family... then, pay attention for those "opportunities" that will arise to exercise patience! Good luck, and God be with you!

Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com