The Fruit of the Spirit Study Week 22: Patience
Welcome to June! This month we’ll be studying about patience. Today’s culture encourages prompt satisfaction of our needs and wants without any wait, so we’re out of practice when it comes to patience. Let’s explore Scripture and find the blessings that will be ours by planting and nurturing this important fruit of the Spirit.
“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing” (James 1:2-4 NKJV).
James 1 (Click HERE to read).
How to respond to trials…
James instructs us to respond with JOY when we encounter trials in our lives. Although we aim to avoid them, we are all dealt those unavoidable cards at some point in life. Trials come in all shapes, sizes, and flavors, and sometimes it seems as though they will never end. So, since they are inevitable, how should we handle them? Do they have a purpose?
God uses trials to test our faith. Our measure of faith may only be as small as a mustard seed, “‘but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade’” (Mark 4:32 NKJV). Our faith grows a little more through each test and has the capacity to become huge.
And the product of tested faith? Patience. James outlines the method for acquiring the precious fruit of patience as we endure trials. Here they are:
First, ask for God’s wisdom…
James tells us to first pray for God’s wisdom, which is free for the asking. “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind” (James 1:6 NKJV). Doubt produces double-mindedness, which in turn robs us of God’s blessings. We can’t receive wisdom if one foot is in the world and the other in the Spirit. Ask, believe, and rest in the assurance that you have received God’s free gift.
Wisdom will also help us when we encounter persecution. As Jesus faced persecution, so may we. The godly person prospers by enduring the noonday heat, which in turn scorches and wilts the persecutors of their faith. “Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away” (James 1:9-10 NKJV). Wisdom will stand by us through trials and help us develop patience instead of a wrong response.
Second, understand the source of temptations…
Temptations can be hard to resist and to do so requires spiritual strength. Does God send temptations to us? No, not ever! We must never blame God for those trials because He is a good God who never tempts anyone to do evil. The true source of temptation comes from our own desires of the flesh. “Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death” (James 1:15 NKJV).
Last, embrace these for success…
- We must control our tongues and our tempers. Learning to practice silence and good listening skills help us walk in God’s righteousness. “So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God” (James 1:19-20 NKJV). Here “slow” means patient.
- As we humbly receive the Word that saves our souls, we must be doers of the Word and not merely hearers. “But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does” (James 1:25 NKJV).
- Practice pure religion and bridle the tongue. “If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless. Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble and to keep oneself unspotted from the world” (James 1:26-27 NKJV).
Merriam Webster defines patience as the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset.
In our hurry-up, instant world, our culture encourages impatience and entitlement. We abhor trials and try to avoid them at all costs. God, on the other hand, performs a work inside each of us to give us patience, a precious fruit of the Spirit, to make us complete. However, we must slow down and learn how to wait. Learning how to develop patience may take a lifetime.
How can we develop patience in such an impatient world? James gives us an example. “See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient” (James 5:7b-8a NKJV).
What are you waiting on today? Whether it’s about finances, relationships, education, health, or something else—allow God to enlarge your faith. As you wait, you’ll be growing branches of patience inside your spirit. After all, “Let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing” (James 1:4 NKJV).
Dear Heavenly Father, help us face our trials with JOY. Grow our faith and produce the fruit of patience in our spirits. We thank you for making us perfect and complete through endurance in Jesus’s Name. Amen.
I am working on finding patience during a time of health concerns. I’ve been having dizziness/vertigo for two weeks. I have changed doctors and felt better over the weekend. Today, the dizziness returned. I know God has a plan for me. I am reminding myself to be patient and rest in Him. Thank you for this great message.
I’m so sorry, Mimi, about the vertigo. I also suffer from it as do my mother and daughter Cait. It has many triggers and it comes and goes. I had to give up yoga and going on cruises. But even gentle motion like in the car, airplane, or even standing in waves in the ocean can start it. Cait takes Dramamine and that helps her. It’s just some disconnect with the eyes and inner ears somehow. But God! He is our Jehovah Rapha, our Healer. I’ll be praying for you to have peace in the midst of this trial and for Jesus to blanket you with patience as you walk through it. I’m believing for your complete healing in Jesus’s Name. Big hugs and much love ❤️ xoxo
Thank you Karen. People who have experienced vertigo/dizziness know how awful the sensation is and how it can halt all plans. I am praying for you all, too. 🙂
Thanks so much, Mimi. Yes, I understand exactly. Praying that today will be a good day for us all. ❤️🌼😊
I’m so eager to learn more about being patient. I hold my tongue more often than not.
Since last month I understand that it’s joy from the Lord that I have and not mere happiness.
Thank you for starting these weekly ‘meetings’ and that I began with you.
These have made a big difference in my daily life. I even went on to tell my husband about my joy from the Lord. There is still hope for him since I AM practising patience.
I’m very patient with the few people I have befriended and when they come over to great us, my husband grunts and puts his head down. He just doesn’t like him. The Lord is probably smiling down at me for not reacting at all.
I’m sure the Lord is pleased with your patient responses, dear Sandra. It’s such a joy to me to hear how the Lord is working in your life! He’s cultivating His seeds in the garden of your heart, and your fruit is evident. Holding the tongue is a challenge for even the best of us, but He gives us strength to wait patiently in trying circumstances. God is so good! Keep on growing your fruit—it’s beauty is shining through you. Blessings, hugs, and prayers 😘❤️xoxo
Thank you, Karen, for this excellent study! I daily pray for patience and for guidance, as well as praying that the fruit of the Spirit will be evident in my life, but I know it needs the fertile soil of the Word to grow.
I find that I also need to ask the Lord to guard my mouth, because I have noticed that my mouth is an indicator of whether I am trusting the Lord for patience, joy, and even guidance. The words from my mouth can also reveal to me that I have taken my eyes off of the Lord, and put them on the situation. My mouth and patience are closely tied together. May the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in His sight.
What a good word, Becky! I agree that the fertile soil of the Word in our hearts will help us cultivate more patience. I’m not very good at thinking before speaking, so keeping my mouth closed has always been a challenge. When I was teaching, I learned great patience, but as I’ve gotten older I find that the bit that used to be in my mouth has disappeared! I need patience these days more than ever, and I pray that the Lord will set a muzzle over my lips and calm peace in my heart, no matter the trials that surface. May this month’s teaching of the Word help us all to grow mature plants of sweet patience and endurance in our spirits. Much love and blessings, dear friend. xoxo
Here’s the link to the June introductory video which was published on Monday, June 3rd: https://www.facebook.com/HeartWingsMinistry/videos/317482752479312/
Karen, thank you for another excellent message as you begin the lessons for the month of June focusing on patience.We are so blessed by your dedication in serving as our Heart”wings” creator/moderator of the weekly “Front Porch” Bible Study series lessons as you follow His leading. Anyone coming into your “Touched by Him Ministries” page directly, can also click on the link to A Women’s Fellowship/Ministry page to see all of your monthly videos and lessons that are also posted there. If they will “Like” our community page they will receive notifications when new lessons, videos, and messages are posted. [https://www.facebook.com/HeartWingsMinistry/] j 🙂 <3 xoxo
I’m blessed and honored to be called to this ministry, dear Joyce. Thank you so very much for allowing me to create and lead these weekly studies of the Word. The Lord has been so gracious to keep feeding me from His hand as I walk along the path with Him. Each week is a new adventure in the Word as He shows me what to share. I pray that these posts will be a blessing to each reader. Much love and blessings! xoxo