Hebrews 6:15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.
I like the quote on this picture. “The longsuffering individual maintains a calm peace of mind while not losing track of the ray of light that keeps one directed toward the redemption of Christ.” That actually sums up patience quite nicely.
When I think of patience, I think of all the things that I could be more patient with and what I could do to help myself be better equipped to handle situations where I can lose my patience: slow traffic when I’m in a hurry (do better at leaving with plenty of time to get to where I need to be), rude people in general (just ignore them), when people cut in front of me at the grocery store (don’t stand so far behind the person in front of me), etc. There are so many things that we can and do lose our patience with every day and when it comes down to it, most of that stuff is just plain silly. It may seem right at the time, for me to get all cranky and be snotty when people are rude to me, but who does that hurt? It makes me feel unhappy at the time and then it makes me feel stupid later for getting so upset about something so dumb.
Patience is of utmost importance when dealing with the people we love. When we get upset quickly at things the people around us do, we tend to speak and behave in a manner that can be hurtful to them. It is vitally important for us to learn how to be more patient with our spouses, gf/bf, parents, children, grandchildren, etc, because a lack of patience can cause damage to these special relationships. The more patience we have, the more opportunities we have to draw closer and create special bonds with the people we love.
In the quote at the bottom of the picture, “A rush to judgment based on a narrow-minded point of view breeds ignorance and hatred placing one on the adversary’s path of destruction.” makes me think of the time I lived in Malaysia. There were many people there who disliked white people because they thought white people disliked them. There were also many white people there who looked down on the Malaysians (as well as the Indians and Chinese) who lived there because they viewed them as less intelligent or as anti-American/European. What both sides were missing was that no matter the skin color, education level or wealth factor of each person, they all had something to contribute and they are all children of God, whether or not they look the same or believe the same.
Whenever we let negative emotions into our lives, like impatience or intolerance, we are inviting Satan to have a small part of our hearts. The more negativity we have, the more we give to Satan, so patience is very important. If we can learn to be patient with the little things, like spilled food, carpet stains, not putting things away; we can be more patient with the big things, like when really bad things happen, cultural differences, religious differences, etc. The patience we have shows how close we are to the Savior and how much of His example we follow, because He was patient with everyone no matter what they did. If He could be patient with people who were constantly (and I mean CONSTANTLY) trying to trip Him up or make Him do or say something wrong, how can we not find a way to be patient with the things that happen now and then?
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