Dear Friends,
Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith. 2 Corinthians 13:5 (NLT)
The Apostle Paul challenges us to examine ourselves to see if our faith is genuine. Over the next few weeks, we are going to use Galatians 5:22-23 as our guide as we examine our walk with Christ. No need to pack your bags for a guilt trip; this will be a journey to find ways we can draw even nearer to God – “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” James 4:8 (NASB)
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Galatians 5:22-23 (NLT)
Did you happen to notice the expression is FRUIT of the Spirit, not FRUITS of the Spirit? Once the Holy Spirit indwells us, we get the whole “fruit salad,” i.e., love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. How much our lives exhibit each of these characteristics can serve as a barometer of how we are doing with our Christian walk.
Are we loving? Are we Joyful? Are we at peace? If we try to rate ourselves on these three, we probably will find that our rating depends on how patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled we are. Love, joy, and peace are the product of a spirit-guided life, and sometimes we need to recalibrate our guidance system.
Let start our journey by looking at PATIENCE.
Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NIV): “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens,” and since that time is often not our time, we can feel disappointed, discouraged, defeated, or angry. We may feel our strength drained from us as we push toward a result that seems to be on a treadmill, racing faster than we can run after it. “What is God waiting for?” We may wonder.
Perhaps, He is waiting to see if we have patience. James 1:2-4: “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
“Lacking in nothing?” you may ask. “Hello! I’m not getting what I want.”
“Patience is the calm acceptance that things can happen in a different order than the one you have in mind.” ― David G. Allen
Maybe God wants to do “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.” (Ephesians 3:20 (b))
He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles Isaiah 40:31 (NIV)
When we learn to wait on the Lord, we can find ourselves revitalized – thankful for what we have, rather than for what we lack.
Of course, patience involves more than timing; it involves people. Truth be told, most of us would be perfectly patient if it weren’t for people. Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher put it well: “I am extraordinarily patient, provided I get my own way in the end.” The antidote: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” Philippians 2:3 (NIV).
In the book, The Love Dare, Steven Kendrick writes, “Patience gives your spouse permission to be human. It understands that everyone fails. When a mistake is made, it chooses to give them more time that they deserve to correct it. It gives you the ability to hold on during the rough times in your relationship rather than bailing out under the pressure.”
Indeed, everyone fails. “Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.” Colossians 3:13 (NIV)
The fruit of patience: “Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.” 1 Timothy 1:16 (NIV)
The path to patience begins within. “Have patience with all things but first with yourself. Never confuse your mistakes with your value as a human being. You are perfectly valuable, creative, worthwhile person simply because you exist. And no amount of triumphs or tribulations can ever change that.” ― Saint Francis de Sales
Verse of the week: Psalm 27:14: “Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.”
Blessings,
Your friends in Christ
Because He Loves Us Press 