Friday, January 9, 2015

What to Write ~ Fruit of the Spirit ~ Patience


It's the second Friday of the month...the unofficial designated day to write to your sponsored kids!

I've started a series of "what to write" posts on the topic of the Fruit of the Spirit. In case you missed them, you can find them here...



and now for PATIENCE



Dear
How are you? It is with great joy that I sit down to write another letter to you. I am always so thankful that we have the opportunity to communicate with one another through letters.

In my most recent letters I’ve been sharing with you my thoughts on each fruit of the Spirit that is listed in Galatians 5:22…
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

In this letter I’ll be talking about PATIENCE. What does it mean to be patient? I think being patient means that you are able to wait for something without getting worried, excited or anxious about it. You are waiting without complaining. Personally, I don’t think it’s easy to be patient about most things. Waiting can be very hard! But there are several verses in the Bible that instruct us to be patient.

One of my favorites is Colossians 3:12 - Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

Also in James 5:7 - Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains.

I truly believe God is patient with us. When I read through the Bible I can see very clearly that God gave the people of Israel many chances to repent of their ways and obey Him. He does the same for me. When I fall into sin, He is waiting patiently for me to repent so He can forgive me.

The older I get, the easier it is to be patient and wait, even when we have to wait longer than we want to. One thing that has helped me learn to wait is knowing that God is in control and that His timing is better than my timing. I might want something right now, but God knows it will be better for me to have to wait. He doesn’t want us to worry. He doesn’t want us to complain. He doesn’t want us to be anxious. He wants us to be patient.

What do you think about patience? Is it hard for you to wait without complaining? God will help you if you simply ask Him for help. Just pray and ask God to help you learn to be patient. He will probably give you all sorts of little opportunities to practice being patient. You might fail and start worrying or complaining, but if you keep praying and practicing, you’ll learn to be patient.
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