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The Fourth
Part of the Fruit of the Spirit
PATIENCE
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Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace,
patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control;
against such things there is no law [we don’t do works to gain
them; we study and the Holy Spirit changes us]
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Patience is putting up with pain or trouble
without complaining. The Lord Jesus Christ put up with a lot of
pain and trouble in being our Savior and NEVER complained.
Sometimes we are pain and trouble! God has perfect patience with
us. Can you imagine that? No one but God can have perfect patience
with us. He can because He is all powerful and all loving. Also,
God deals with us in grace* because of what our Savior did on the
cross.
* Grace is all that God is free to do for us because of the work
of Jesus Christ on the cross.
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1
Corinthians 13:4 Love is patient, love is
kind.
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Another word for patience is
longsuffering. This means being patient for a long time. God
tolerates and endures our sinful ways, waiting for us to wake up!
This doesn’t mean that He thinks that our ways are O.K. It means
that God is waiting for us to change our ways. Sometimes this
takes a long time! God is longsuffering!
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1
Timothy 1:16 And yet for this reason I found mercy, in order that
in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect
patience, as an example for those who would believe in Him for
eternal life. (Paul talking)
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God wants to help us to
become patient. He is patient with us, and we can learn from His
Word to be patient with ourselves and others. If we abide in the
Vine, being filled with the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit will
produce PATIENCE in us along with the other eight parts of the
fruit of the Spirit!
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Colossians 1:11 …being strengthened with all power according to
His glorious might so that you may have great endurance and
patience…
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God is sooo gentle with us.
When we get off track He doesn’t say, “Well, that’s it for you.”
God doesn’t blow His top! He gives us what we need to get back on
track. His gentleness makes us want to grow in His ways. To grow
in God’s ways we need to change our minds to think the way God
thinks. You know how to do that: learn Bible doctrine! Learn God’s
patience!
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Romans
2:4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of His kindness,
tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads
you toward repentance [change of mind]?
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Because God has been gentle with
us, we can be gentle with others. God treats us with grace and
gives us room to grow, and we learn to treat others with grace. We
give them room to change their minds and grow in the knowledge and
grace of God.
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Psalm
18:35 Thou hast also given me the shield of Thy salvation, and Thy
right hand upholds me; and Thy gentleness makes me great.
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For us to be patient, we have to
have the power of God. We have to abide in the Vine, which means
that we have the filling of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will
develop patience in us if we learn Bible doctrine and use it. God
will give us a lot of power, His power! Let’s be patient!
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Nahum
1:3 The Lord is slow to anger and great in power…
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The
Fourth Part of the Fruit of the Spirit
Patience
References used:
Robert R.McLaughlin Bible Ministries
www.gbible.org
Lesson: 7-21-05
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