Fruit of the Spirit
Living by the Spirit produces the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These lessons from the Learn It, Live It Bible Studies are to help you learn about each of these qualities and how you can live by God’s Spirit and grow in fruit. Find a quiet place with a peaceful view or play some soothing music to get you ready to grow in your faith. Journal about or discuss the lessons with a friend or two. Go back to the lesson and take a second look to see if you discover something new or have a change of perspective. It is your journey to take, and the path always leads to a closer relationship with God.
Fruit of the Spirit-Week 10
Galatians 5:22-23 – Patience
“Lord, give me patience and I want it now!” Kids, school, clubs, plans, finances, jobs; all of these stretch us too far and fray our threads of patience. Of all the qualities of the fruit of the Spirit, patience may be the most difficult to acquire. Instant gratification is the way of the day and who has time to wait, persevere, endure? We are more likely to demand, “Lord, give me patience!” than to practice patience by simply waiting on God to work through our circumstances.
The thesaurus lists the following words under the entry for patience. Tolerance, acceptance, leniency, sweet reasonableness, forbearance, sufferance, endurance, long-suffering, stoicism, fortitude, perseverance, uncomplainingness, nonresistance. (Roget’s International Thesaurus, Fourth Edition)
How do these words affect your understanding of what the word patience means?
What is your definition of patience?
What situations in life call for patience?
What makes being patient challenging?
Read the following examples of impatience:
Exodus 24:12-28, 32:1-4
Habakkuk 1:1-4
Luke 10:38-42
What makes people impatient?
Is impatience always wrong?
What does our impatience say about our character? About our attitude toward others?
When has your own impatience caused you trouble?
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