Summer Fruit Devotion: Patience Day 1

Complete Patience

“You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” 2 Timothy 3:10 – 4:5

Patience is a double edged sword. As I got into the Greek word meanings I found out there are actually two types of patience mentioned in scripture and Paul encourages Timothy to have both in this passage of scripture. The first one here translated “patience” is the same one found in the Galatians 5 fruit of the spirit passage. It’s the Greek word makrothumea which is calm endurance in the face of personal persecution, basically patience toward people. The other is hypomone, translated in this passage as “steadfastness.” This has more to do with bearing the weight of our circumstances, or patience toward problems. Both are critical in our lives and both were demonstrated by Christ in his life. I love Paul’s words to Timothy because even when the days are dark and getting darker, people are evil and becoming more evil, he points us right back to Christ Jesus, the faith and hope we have in him.

Journal time. “When our hupomone is tested, we grow in faith in the Lord (patience, perseverance with circumstances). When our makrothumia is tested, we grow the Fruits of the Spirit in us, showing that we are children of God by how we love, by how we act.” Quoted from this article.
Is your patience being tested? Not like “waiting for my latte at Starbucks” tested, but is your endurance of love being tested? Write down the ways you lose patience with people in your life, at home, at work, in ministry. Ask God to help you have complete patience and endure, just as Christ did, as an act of grace toward the people around you.

Pray with me today. Oh Lord, I thought we weren’t supposed to pray for patience… But here we are, praying for patience. Heavenly Father, if our patience is what shines your light in the darkness then let it be so. Holy Spirit, help us to recognize when our patience is being tested and then help us to respond with that calm endurance. Let us not give ground to the enemy when we should be advancing your kingdom by preaching the word and being patient. Help us to be sober-minded, not fooled into thinking it doesn’t matter. Help us to endure whatever suffering comes as we fulfill the ministries you’ve called us to. In the hope and love of Christ we pray, Amen