Fruit of the Spirit: Patience

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, and self-control.” – Galatians 5:22-23a

Patience on the Golf Course

I spent a large portion of my life trying to prove myself as an athlete. I grabbed a hold of any sport I could get my hands on to see if I could prove myself great in the eyes of my peers. Many sports were abandon immediately for lack of skill or better yet a lack of body size (turns out my middle school football team had no place a 5′ slow wide receiver who weighted 80 pounds.) I was doomed from the start. However, one particular sport was tried and tried and tried again until ultimately my frustration decided to throw the towel in once and for all. Golf. A sport of precision, mental fortitude, and what I lacked above all patience.

I determined I was a terrible golfer from the first tee box but I tried to enjoy it none-the-less. My attitude would not let me however, I couldn’t get past how awful I was. I knew if I put the work in and stayed with it eventually it’d pay off but I couldn’t get myself to do it. Bad shot after bad shot after bad shot my patience run low. I decided it was time to put the clubs in the shed and find a new sport to try.

In hindsight, a lot of great family memories occurred on the same courses that frustrated me into agony. When I was younger, my attitude dictated much of my life. My lack of patience made many things impossible for me. I was always told “Patience is a virtue” but there has to be a way that this behavior manifests itself in our lives right? There has to be a way we can continue to grow in our ability to hold it right?

Patience in the Gospel

The Gospel so beautifully illustrates patience in a way that nothing else can. As we examine the history of God’s story we see His perfect patience seen time and time again. As He created the world and us, everything is good, everything is perfect. Yet, as sin lurks in the shadows and is born into Adam and Eve, God’s patience is first seen. While they rebelled and disobeyed still God is seen tending to them, caring for them, and creating a plan for restoration for the sin that has come into the world. Flash forward to God’s chosen people Israel as they live through the sacrificial system of offerings God has created to continually remind them of their dependence and how they will need an all-atoning sacrifice once and for all we see them fall away. They disobey God, their hearts grow cold, they become distant, God ushers them back into His arm, they stay there momentary and fall away and the endless cycle continues. God’s patience was working perfectly as He continued to love them, guide them, and bring them back into His loving arms time after time. Flash forward to Jesus, walking around the earth teaching His disciples and His lost sheep. As He lie in the Garden of Gethsemane telling His disciples that they would turn away from Him, His patience was at work. The Gospel at every level demonstrates (especially through the life of Christ) what it looks like to be patient. As Jesus lived His life, He was patient and loving. While He lived, as He taught, He knew as the all-knowing God that He was knew who would turn away from Him, who would reject Him, who would betray Him, who would crucify Him, yet He remained patient with everyone around Him. He remained loving because of this patience.

Patience in our Lives

As Followers of Christ, the Gospel comes to life in us. As Jesus died on the cross crushing sin, His Spirit would be given to all believers as a gift, a deposit of Him in us. We are able to be made more Christ-like because of this then. We can look toward Christ and His Spirit to be our patience. As our tempers falls we can start to see things as Christ sees them if we renew our mind to be like His. We can regain our focus and composure for our co-workers who run our patience low by seeing them as Christ sees them. They are loved, they are desired and wanted, they are broken and in need of the same Savior we desperately cling too for our hope.  We can see our child who continually disobeys us and is out of control as the same lost sheep that “The Great Shepherd” looked up and down through the meadow to find. Through this love our patience will shine through again, because of His patience. We just need to continually look to Christ to fill us with His Spirit; it may not solve our golf game problems, but it will solve our inability to show patience and love to those around us.