Fruit of the Spirit ~ Patience (Part 2)
Patience is not being a wimp or shy or something to be ashamed of…patience requires great strength in the face of temptation or persecution, etc. Patience requires God’s strength and power to endure.
Perhaps you live in a country in which you enjoy the freedom to worship God. Think of those who do not have that freedom. Men, women and children in many countries today are enduring great persecution for their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
How can we effectively pray for them and each other?
(NASB) 2 Corinthians 6:2-10 “…Behold, now is the ‘ACCEPTABLE TIME,’ behold, now is the ‘DAY OF SALVATION’ –
3 giving no cause for offense in anything, so that the ministry will not be discredited,
4 but in everything commending ourselves as servants of God, in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses,
5 in beatings, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger,
6 in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love,
7 in the world of truth, in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left,
8 by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report; regarded as deceivers and yet true;
9 as unknown yet well-known, as dying yet behold, we live; as punished yet not put to death,
10 as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things.”
(Underlining added)
(NASB) 1 Peter 2:18-21 “Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable.
19 For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly.
20 For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.”
Patience is a part of the fruit of the Spirit…
be encouraged to patiently endure in your circumstances.