Patience, long-suffering, forbearance……. The need has never been more obvious than it is currently. The pandemic is on all our nerves. We are tired of the death toll, we are tired of continually tracking the numbers, we are tired of talking about it, we are tired of fighting about it, and we want our lives back.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23 (ESV)
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all
Ephesians 4:1–6 (ESV)
We are called to patience. We are to practice forbearance. What does it mean to be long-suffering? The church is in dire need. We are divided and in conflict. And it is not over theology but things taking place in the secular world. That is not to say, that they are unimportant, nor that Christianity has nothing to say about things happening in the rest of the world. Every time it seems we are near escaping or current whirlpool of difficulty, it circles back around. We are tired, stressed, and depressed.
The Bible tells us that when we receive Christ, we become children of God. If we are all children of the same father, we are brothers and sisters. The Bible also uses the analogy that we are all parts of the same body, the body of Christ. We cannot escape the fact that we are bound together through Christ and the Holy Spirit. We are transformed and the Holy Spirit lives in us. It is required of us to act toward one another in a manner that follows Christ. We are to be disciples, to walk in His ways. We are admonished to pay attention to many things about the type of people we should be. Certainly, now is a good time for each of us to take a look inside and be honest about what we see. We are in danger that some of our relationships will never recover. If this is you, maybe it is time to start a new trend. Not everyone may get on board, but we can begin to be the type of people God is molding us to be. We can treat our brothers and sisters, and everyone else, with patience. We can overlook the differing views of the pandemic. We can be patient, forbearing with one another. To do so requires us to be intentional. Won’t you join me in forgiveness, patience, and love toward my fellow humans, both Christian and non-Christian. Join me in being Christlike.