“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy peace, longsuffering…” Galatians 5:22
Welcome back, as we continue with our discussion about having the evidence of “The Fruit of the Spirit” in our lives. We were all deeply grateful and encouraged by Shawnna’s writing on how having peace has helped her to get through this sad time of losing her beautiful much loved daughter.
Today, we will take a quick look at the fruit of longsuffering; which is, patience.
We live in a world where everything is fast. Have you ever stood by the microwave while waiting for something to heat up in 30 seconds and it just wasn’t fast enough? What about being in traffic that just isn’t moving fast enough for us? I’ve been in both of those situations and it let me know that this is an area that I have to be aware of and I am working on having more patience in my life.
I recently read an article by the Navigators. This article was speaking on having the Fruit of the Spirit in our lives; how it isn’t like a fruit salad to just pick around and decide which fruit we want. This list that Paul gave us in the book of Galatians are the qualities of having Christ in our life.
“This kind of life, a life that exhibits character qualities that reflect Jesus, is attractive to those around us. A life full of the fruit of the Spirit points people toward God.” –Carla Foote, editor of Disciple by The Navigators
Isn’t that our main goal and purpose in life; to point others to Him?
May today, we show a glimpse of Jesus to those around us by the patience that we display in our life.
How are you doing on memorizing Galatians 5:22-23?
If you haven’t read the previous posts on love, joy or peace, click on each fruit and the link will take you to that post. Also, click here, to read the very beginning.
Challenge:
When you are in a situation where you can feel the impatience coming on, ask the Lord to give you patience and concentrate on showing patience on your face and in your actions. I was in a store yesterday and I was a little overwhelmed and a bit tired. The lady checking me out was so kind and friendly. So friendly that she talked for at least 10 minutes while holding my money to give me my change. I was really wanting to just go after our already 45 minute visit while shopping in the store. 🙂 The entire time I was asking the Lord for patience and I concentrated on not being in a hurry and I really did have time to listen and visit, I was just tired and that is no excuse to be rude and cut someone off. I did enjoy the visit, but I almost let my selfishness ruin an opportunity to show and share Christ. I would love to hear how your patience is working today.
Have a fruit filled day!
