“Or do you despise the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not realize that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4).
Out of all the times the word “patience” is used in the New Testament, about half of the references are in regard to God’s patience toward sinners, toward us.
As we saw yesterday patience literally means waiting a sufficient time before expressing anger. The literal translation of the compound Greek word for “patience” is being long-tempered as opposed to be short-tempered.
It doesn’t take much to get a short-tempered person to lose it. Anger, retribution, diatribe, cutting remarks spew out the moment the short-tempered person feels attacked or offended.
God is not that way. God is forbearing, patient, long-suffering. God knows we will mess up. God knows we will let him down. So God is patient, forbearing, and long-suffering with us.
This is not because God is weak. This is because God is strong. This is because God is loving and kind. This is because God wants to give us every opportunity to repent.
Thank God for that. If it were not for God’s patience and long-suffering with me, I would be toast!
God is our biggest fan. God wants us to succeed. God wants us to improve. God wants to see us live into our God-given potential. So he is patient with us. His patience is our only hope. Thank God for God’s patience!!!
Praxis: Faith in Action 