I've heard that word throughout my life but this morning it caught my attention. I was reading a book by John Bevere and he stated that "we are told to be rooted and grounded in the love of God. The seed of God's Word will then take root in our hearts and grow and eventually produce the fruit of righteousness. This fruit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control."
So all of these are easy to understand but this morning, "long-suffering" seemed to stand out and I realized that I really didn't know what that meant. I started by looking the word up in the dictionary and found this: "having or showing patience in spite of troubles, especially those caused by other people."
I then went to the internet and searched the word in Google. This is what I found:
Long-suffering is love on trial. It enables you to forbear and forgive others (Colossians 3:13). As with the other manifestations of spiritual fruit, you can't produce it in yourself. The ability to be longsuffering comes from the Holy Spirit (Colossians 1:11) and by loving God's law. (Psalm 119:165)
Long-suffering is also referred to as patience. Patience is being mild, gentle, and constant in all circumstances.
The real test of patience is not in waiting, but in how one acts while he or she is waiting. A person who has developed patience will be able to put up with things without losing his or her temper. Scripture tells us in James 1:4 "But let patience have her perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, wanting (lacking) nothing."
Reaching this point is definitely a process which takes a lot of practice. However, we can learn to enjoy life where we are while we are waiting for what we desire.
