Where does patience come from? Patience is that virtue that allows a person to coexist with another despite the small or large faults of another. Patience does not depend upon how good or bad the other person is, nor whether or not they are trying to fix their issues. Patience may not even address the faults of the other person. Patience endures, with love, the faults of another. Patience does not necessarily endure the faults of others passively. Love may require either intervention or separation, but patience allows life to continue in the face of the faults of others.
Where does that come from? Some say it comes from age. They say that getting old helps to show you that the other person's faults are not that big, or that they are not that much different that your own...and that creates patience. Others say that there is no purpose to patience. "He's got the problem, not me," they say. "So once he will deal with his faults, then I can be apart of his life, but until then our relationship can never be whole." I can see the perspective of each of these positions. There is some truth in them.
Some people seem to have infinite patience, but for the wrong reasons. Some parents, for example, seem to be able to put up with their child, not matter how the child rebels. The child is beating on the parents face and the parent simply says, "Oh, Johnny...you know its not nice to hit. You would not want others to hit you." Somehow this does not seem right either.
The problem in each scenario is a lack of Jesus. In the first way to get patience, the "getting old" method, depends on a moralistic approach to self-improvement. And getting old certainly does not help some people. We all know some cranky old man who seems to be the least patient person alive.
The parent that seems to have infinite patience may only have infinite patience because they have made the child their god. All of life bends around the child, and therefore, the child can do no wrong. Unfortunately, many such children grow up quite spoiled, as the parent has loved their child more than God and treats the child in a way that only God is strong enough to handle. Many such parents end up either too proud or too disappointed in their child, depending on how the child does in life.
The person, however, that demands the other person to "fix" his or her faults before a relationship can continue really highlights how Jesus creates patience. Jesus creates patience, not by yelling at a person, demanding patience, nor by self-help techniques. He creates patience by absorbing such a great fault that no one every has the right to complain about anyone else, ever again. Jesus tells a story of two men, both of whom have large debts. One man owes billions of dollars, the other a few thousand. The man that owes billions is forgiven his debt. But just after being forgiven, he finds the man that owes him a few thousand dollars and sends him to a collections agency. Jesus finds fault with the first man, as he should have felt enormous gratitude that caused him to show mercy to the man that owed him money.
Jesus is the one that was owed billions. Our sins are of infinite value because the are against and infinitely good God. And Jesus died to forgive us our faults. Such an overwhelming experience must create patience with our fellow fallen friends, neighbors and family members, and even our enemies. If it doesn't, then we have never experienced the forgiveness that Jesus died to create.
Ask him. Ask him to show you the depth of your sin and the largeness of his forgiving love. Ask him to create in you patience for others because he is patient with you.
Where does that come from? Some say it comes from age. They say that getting old helps to show you that the other person's faults are not that big, or that they are not that much different that your own...and that creates patience. Others say that there is no purpose to patience. "He's got the problem, not me," they say. "So once he will deal with his faults, then I can be apart of his life, but until then our relationship can never be whole." I can see the perspective of each of these positions. There is some truth in them.
Some people seem to have infinite patience, but for the wrong reasons. Some parents, for example, seem to be able to put up with their child, not matter how the child rebels. The child is beating on the parents face and the parent simply says, "Oh, Johnny...you know its not nice to hit. You would not want others to hit you." Somehow this does not seem right either.
The problem in each scenario is a lack of Jesus. In the first way to get patience, the "getting old" method, depends on a moralistic approach to self-improvement. And getting old certainly does not help some people. We all know some cranky old man who seems to be the least patient person alive.
The parent that seems to have infinite patience may only have infinite patience because they have made the child their god. All of life bends around the child, and therefore, the child can do no wrong. Unfortunately, many such children grow up quite spoiled, as the parent has loved their child more than God and treats the child in a way that only God is strong enough to handle. Many such parents end up either too proud or too disappointed in their child, depending on how the child does in life.
The person, however, that demands the other person to "fix" his or her faults before a relationship can continue really highlights how Jesus creates patience. Jesus creates patience, not by yelling at a person, demanding patience, nor by self-help techniques. He creates patience by absorbing such a great fault that no one every has the right to complain about anyone else, ever again. Jesus tells a story of two men, both of whom have large debts. One man owes billions of dollars, the other a few thousand. The man that owes billions is forgiven his debt. But just after being forgiven, he finds the man that owes him a few thousand dollars and sends him to a collections agency. Jesus finds fault with the first man, as he should have felt enormous gratitude that caused him to show mercy to the man that owed him money.
Jesus is the one that was owed billions. Our sins are of infinite value because the are against and infinitely good God. And Jesus died to forgive us our faults. Such an overwhelming experience must create patience with our fellow fallen friends, neighbors and family members, and even our enemies. If it doesn't, then we have never experienced the forgiveness that Jesus died to create.
Ask him. Ask him to show you the depth of your sin and the largeness of his forgiving love. Ask him to create in you patience for others because he is patient with you.
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