I was drawn to Galatians 5:22 this morning - The Fruit of the Spirit. Looking at different translations, here's the Fruit: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience (Forbearance, Longsuffering), Kindness, Goodness (Generosity), Faithfulness, Gentleness (Meekness), and Self Control (Temperance).
Focusing on Patience, I found that Forbearance means "restraint under provocation" (according to Wiktionary). So it's not just sitting quietly and waiting, which is what I usually think of first. It's using our Spirit-given Self Control to be Peaceful and Kind even when our buttons are being pushed. As you can see by the three other parts of the Fruit I just mentioned, God's been freshly showing me how this is all one Fruit - all nine concepts overlap and interact with each other.
I did a Beth Moore study on the Fruit a few years ago (Living Beyond Yourself) and today I revisited the part about Patience. Highlighting the Greek word makrothumia and the way it is used in other places in Scripture, she explained that this Fruit is all about the way we respond to other people. Reacting to circumstances with endurance is a different thing (Greek word hupomone), which is based on hope. Patience towards people is rooted in mercy.
In Christian Doctrine, Shirley Guthrie says that "the presence of the Spirit means a new relationship with God that is expressed in a new kind of relationship with other people." The word Patience/Forbearance/makrothumia is used other places in the Bible to describe God's heart towards us. In Romans 2:3-4, Paul says, "Do you imagine, whoever you are, that when you judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself, you will escape the judgment of God? 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?"
I see afresh how God's patient mercies to me can be re-expressed in my patience with others.
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