Patience-Endurance With a Purpose

BECAUSE of the increasing pressure of "the last days,"  Jehovah's people need patience more than ever before.  (2 Timothy 3:1-5)  We are surrounded by a world in which people are often lovers of themselves, not open to any agreement and without self-control.  Those who display such characteristics are frequently anything but patient.  Hence, each Christian should ask himself:  'Has the world's impatience rubbed off on me? What does it mean to be truly patient? And how can I make this outstanding Christian quality a permanent part of my personality?' 


WHAT PATIENCE MEANS

In the Biblical sense of the word, patience is more than simply putting up with a trying situation.  A person  with godly patience endures with a purpose. He sees beyond his own needs and considers the welfare of the one causing a disagreeable situation.  For this reason, when a patient person is wronged or provoked, he refuses to give up hope for improvement in the disturbed relationship.  Little wonder, then, that the Bible lists being "patient" as the first of many fine qualities that stem from love.  (1 Corinthians 13:4) God's Word also includes "patience" as an aspect of "the fruitage of the spirit."  (Galatians 5:22, 23) What, though, does cultivating this godly quality require of us?

Next time: Patience-Endurance With a Purpose - HOW TO DEVELOP PATIENCE

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