“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, LONG-SUFFERING, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” Galatians 5:22-23 (NKJV)

Springtime has come to the Rockies, which means we are dealing with cold temperatures, snow, and ice one day, then enjoying warmer temperatures that bring mucky mud and manure in the corrals, a boy that is constantly playing in the thawing creek, muddy dog and boot tracks throughout the house and the anticipation of first calves. 

Springtime in Wyoming has us in a holding pattern of waiting for warmer spring days, new life and green grass, yet still stuck in winter weather patterns which often bring those harsh spring storms that the Cowboy state is well known for. From the time I was a child, ranching has constantly taught me about patience. Lessons taught in the corral, in the hayfield, moving cattle on the mountain, driving an old stick-shift feed pickup in nasty weather. God has provided unending lessons on patience. 

 I don’t know if you have experienced this, but I sure have: the more I ask God for patience, the more opportunities He gives for me to actually practice patience!

The truth is, I often lack patience with my physical limitations and fatigue, the weather, my family and other relationships, and even with situations that happen in our world which I have no control over. I find that patience is often elusive, and the more I try to produce it, the less of it I have!

This lack of patience keeps me from fully grasping the other 8 aspects of the fruit of the Spirit: without patience I’m not able to fully grab hold of the love, joy, peace, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control that God desires to see in my life. 

However, just as I learned with love, joy, and peace, we aren’t the ones who manufacture patience in our lives, His Spirit does that. The more I strive and labor to maintain patience, the more I find I am lacking in it. But when I simply allow the Holy Spirit to work Jesus’ fruit into my life, I find that His character is eternally patient and long-suffering.

In Galatians 5:22, the word “patience” is exchanged for “long-suffering” in some translations. As I studied this fruit of the Spirit I found there is a difference between simply practicing patience, versus being longsuffering. Patience involves a short term endurance; the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, disturbance, irritations or mild sufferings without getting angry or upset.

Miriam Webster defines patience as “ bearing pains or trials calmly or without complaint; manifesting forbearance under provocation or strain; not hasty or impetuous; steadfast despite opposition, difficulty or adversity.”

Strong’s definition for the word patience comes from the Greek word, hypomonē; ““steadfastness, constancy, endurance, cheerful (or hopeful) endurance, constancy:—enduring, patience, patient continuance (waiting).“

But when we see the word “long-suffering” we find that it involves more of a long term endurance. Long-suffering means “long temper”; it’s a picture of holding our temper for a long time, of self-restraint, especially having or showing patience in spite of troubles caused by other people.

The Strong’s definition for the word used in Galatians 5:22 is the greek word makrothymía. It means “patience, endurance, constancy, steadfastness, perseverance, patience, forbearance, longsuffering, slowness in avenging wrongs.” Longsuffering speaks more to a long term patient endurance, constancy, steadfastness and perseverance than it is about the short term need for patience. 

Learning a new craft or hobby, wiping up messy countertops for the third time in a day, mopping muddy floors, picking up your husband’s shoes from the middle of the floor, teaching a child how to tie his shoes, insults, irritations, disturbances. . . these all require patience in our day to day lives. It’s all part of being human. 

But sometimes we face things in life that require more than mere patience, they require long-suffering. Enduring hardships that never seem to ease or go away. Struggles in marriage, caring for a seriously ill or high needs child, facing deep financial difficulties, working through broken relationships, longstanding oppression or persecution. These all require standing up under and bearing all kinds of attacks from the enemy. These all require suffering long. 

This kind of patience is associated throughout the bible with His mercy, (look at 1 Peter 3:20); and hope (see 1 Thessalonians 1:3). We see Jesus practicing patience with His disciples in Luke 22:32–34, and with God’s plans for His life in John 12:27. 

God is the source of our patience because His very nature is long-suffering. We see over and over again where the Lord is described as “merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth.” (Exodus 34:6,). “Longsuffering and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression” (Numbers 14:18-20). “But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in mercy and truth” (Psalm 86:15).

God asks us to run with patient perseverance the race set before us (Hebrews 12:1), because He has dealt with us with an unending patience. We bear afflictions patiently and we wait patiently for the hope we have in Jesus, of a future glory in heaven that will be absent of trouble and any need for patience!

When we allow this fruit of patience to be worked out into our lives we actually experience the fruit for ourselves. We become slow to anger (James 1:19), not easily provoked (Proverbs 14:29, Proverbs 15:1), ready to forgive those who injure or insult us (Ephesians 4:32), and we are able to bear and suffer long, the persecutions we will face in the name of Jesus (Matthew 5:10).

Romans 12:12 tells us to “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” An active, steadfast endurance in the midst of trials, tribulations, and conflict requires more than just a feeling of patient tolerance for life’s minor irritations and disturbances; it’s a deep perseverance that gives us strength to endure. It provides forbearance for those whom we struggle, disagree, and have conflict with. We don’t seek retribution or vengeance against those who wrong us because God gives us a refraining restraint that trusts in Him taking care of any wrong dealt against us. 

And we see in Romans 8:25 that “if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.” The Holy Spirit gives us the ability to practice perseverance and patient endurance because of the knowledge that, no matter what we face in life, redemption is ours because that’s God’s plan for our lives. Although this redemption won’t be complete until Jesus returns, we are able to live in the reality of it now. . . and that gives us the ability to live with patience and longsuffering even as we face pain, disappointments, struggles, and conflicts with others. We eagerly anticipate that redemption with patient perseverance. 

People will rub us the wrong way. . .that’s a given in life. They’ll disagree, disappoint and disturb us. The world expects us to act in kind…God tells us different, He tells us that we are His, therefore we react to those things that test our patience with humility, gentleness and longsuffering. We bear with one another with forgiving and generous hearts to those who attack, disagree and devastate us. 

We are able to do this because we are God’s elect, His Beloved, His chosen people, “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering” (Colossians 3:12),  and “Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love” (Ephesians 4:2 NLT). 

This doesn’t mean that we allow others to take advantage of us, or that we “patiently” turn our head away from destruction in their lives, we don’t enable others in their sin because of patience. It means we rely on the wisdom of the Holy Spirit to work the fruit of patience in our lives as we deal with those difficult circumstances. 

Last of all, Psalm 37:7 tells us, “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.” We can live in the reality of this virtue of the Holy Spirit because God has promised to faithfully take care of those who put their trust in Him. 

We have the power to practice a long and enduring patience because we have access to fresh supplies of strength, grace and mercy each day. God is abundantly patient with us, suffering long with our sinfulness and rebellion; His patience becomes our patience because of the work of His fruit in our lives.