Patience

I often hear people talk about their patience running thin, almost as if patience is a tiny piece of thread on the verge of breaking. While the dictionary definition of patience is the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset, scripture tells me that patience is not the ability to wait, but how we act while we are waiting (Galatians 5:22). Also in Colossians 3:12: patience has the power to endure whatever injustice or pleasantness comes with good temper. Wow! That seems to be a more impactful definition of patience. We have all been taught and learned patience from birth through adulthood, but there is power in knowing that you are patient when you examine your behaviors while waiting! It’s the understanding that there is a look to patience – observable behavior.

Daily Self Reflection – examine your actions today while practicing patience. What did you see? What behaviors confirm that you are in fact being patient?