September 18, 2019

“Patience is a virtue,” they say. (Whoever “they” is!) “Love is patient and kind; it does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude,” as the famous 1 Corinthians 13 passage admonishes us.

If you were asked to meditate on the word Patience, these axioms might be come flying to the forefront of your mind, like birds descending upon a morsel of bread at a park. They are statements that we can easily repeat and affirm, but how often do we take them to heart?

When I consider the lives of those who are older than me, I often find that they are generally much more patient and slow to speak than those who are younger. The people I admire the most tend to be those who are also the most patient. They are gifted at listening well to others, they engage in meaningful dialogue, and they genuinely care about those whom God has put in front of them.

Through advanced wisdom and life experience, many of these well-respected people have learned the art of stopping to enjoy the scenery around them, the people with whom they engage, and the work given them to steward. What a gift of God’s common grace to be able to appreciate these wonderful things! But more than the common graces of which we are daily recipients, to be filled with the Spirit of God and have one’s mind set upon the life and peace that he brings is all the more desirable.

Romans 8:5–6 tells us the following: “Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.”

As I have been writing about fostering hearts of love, gratitude, and peace the past few weeks, perhaps you’ve noticed a trend. These are all character-defining attributes that run contrary to sin and fully in tandem with the very attributes of God himself.

Think back to 1 Corinthians 13:4. If love itself is from God and is marked by patience, kindness, humility, and gentleness toward others, and if setting one’s mind on the things of the Spirit leads one to humbly embrace these things, isn’t fostering a heart of such things as simple as spending time with the Lord?

Like going to a beach and soaking up some rays, meditating upon Scripture and cultivating a spirit of prayerfulness leads us to recognize, desire, and embrace godly attributes. And of course it takes patience to cultivate a heart of patience. If this sounds redundant or like cyclical reasoning to you, it’s because it is!

Sanctification is an ongoing, and often-repeating process. We don’t graduate from the lesson of love, just as we don’t graduate from the message of the gospel. As the book of Proverbs says to those who desire wisdom: “Get wisdom.” So it is with patience. How do we grow in patience? Love it; practice it; and love it and practice it all the more. As my mentor Mike Sharrett would often say, “You become like that which you behold.”

So do you desire to be characterized by patience? If so, you must look to the Lord himself, who is altogether patient. The Lord our God is a God who is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands. As we look upon him, we will learn from him.