Psalm 37:1-11 (NIV)
1 Do not fret because of those evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; 2 for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away.
3 Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. 4 Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: 6 He will make your righteous shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.
8 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil. 9 For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land.
10 A little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found.
11 But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace.
We have been looking at signs that the Spirit is working within us. In Galatians 5, Paul gives us a list of what a heart changed by God looks like. Love, joy, peace, patience. Today we’re going to look at patience.
Patience could be perseverance; the word has those connotations. Older translations use the idea of long-suffering. That is closer to what the Greek defines patience as long-suffering.
When we ask for patience, we will get situations around people or circumstances that will try our patience, and we are put into a place we will need to develop personal skills and attributes to become a more patient child of God.
Romans 12:10-21 (NIV)
10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Patience is a trait that allows a person to hold up and hold together under pressure without giving up or giving in to bitterness or frustration and in capacities.
There are two types of patience: patience under hard circumstances and the patience and grace with difficult people and or within difficult relationships. Patience in circumstances and patience with people.
Refusing to forgive never made anyone feel better about anything. All you are doing is holding on to feelings of upset, anger and jealousy and that can never be good. I once read that being angry and unforgiving towards someone else is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. ~Nigel Cumberland
The Bible gives two verses – 17 and 21 – that gives a principle to not repay evil for evil. We are to overcome evil with good, this is unlike any other religious teachings, to aspire to this level of forgiveness.
The only way to defeat evil is to overcome evil with good. This means we respond with love, grace, and forgiveness.
When we are unable to have God help us in the forgiving, loving, patient process we paralyze the transformation power of the Gospel in our lives and others. We must be willing to give the hurt to God.
Forgiveness does not come easily to us, especially when someone we have trusted betrays our trust. And yet if we do not learn to forgive, we will discover that we can never really rebuild trust. ~Billy Graham
Look how they (us) respond? Christ came not to bring judgement, but to take God’s judgement on Himself. (John 3:17)
So, how do we not get overwhelmed by evil?
1) Bless those who persecute you. Bless means praying for them to be blessed. (It is hard to hate someone that is praying for you.)
2) Forgive them. We all struggle with some aspect of forgiveness. Men tend to forget, but struggle with forgiveness. Women tend to forgive but never forget. We have to both forgive and forget.
3) Don’t avoid the people. The people we have conflict or issues. This is a form of punishment. We are to live at peace with everyone. We can only control our choices, our actions in our interactions with different people.
4) Feed your enemy if they are hungry. If they are thirsty, give them drink. We are willing to work toward their good. We want the best for our enemy. Proverbs 15: “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” Proverbs 25:15 “A gentle tongue can break a bone.”
We are in the world to be about changing people. If someone is going in the wrong direction we must in a loving, humble way love them back into Christ’s good graces.
We are to forgive people long before we tell them what they have been doing wrong. We pray for them, will their good, interact with them. We are called to forgive and love the best of what Christ has given us in our lives to help heal the rift in the relationship.
“Genuine love is shown not by the sharing of the table, neither with lofty words, nor flattery, but by the correction and the seeking of the good of one’s neighbor.” ~John Chrysostom
The power to be able to love, forgive, and be patient comes from the mercies of God in our life. “I urge you all in view of God’s mercy.” Paul then exhorts them on how to live. Our whole lives we are able to believe in response to the mercy we have received from God.
Paul emphasizes that if we want to live like we should, we have to be able to see the beauty, majesty of God’s mercy to us.
We are the ones who owe a debt to God, who forgives us. If we fail to offer grace to others, we don’t understand the debt we owe and what has been given to us.
We are to have patience in all circumstances and in all relationships. We are all in the process of becoming someone better than we are now with the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit.
If they are not Christians, we cannot demand what we also owe. Patience is hard, but it is right, and we can all stand to grow in the patience we currently have. God bless you; may Christ’s peace fill your heart and mind this week.