Patience. Long-suffering is also translated as patience. There are several different types of patience. One form is to endure or persevere trouble. The other form, which is the meaning in Galatians, is “slowness in avenging wrongs.” While they have very similar meanings, one has to do with troubles we face that are not necessarily caused by another person, and the other meaning, our Galatians meaning, relates to how we handle the ways other people treat us. Thayer’s Lexicon says that patience “is the self-restraint which does not hastily retaliate a wrong.”
Long-suffering is actually a better word than patience because it carries in the word itself the meaning of suffering long without retaliating. The opposite of long-suffering is a short-tempered person who lashes out in anger immediately when wronged. When I wrote about arming ourselves in the discourse on love, the same thinking behind the reasons for not taking up arms applies to long-suffering. We have a tendency to exact a greater punishment on those who mistreat us than they deserve.
This type of patience is expressed well in Proverbs 15:18, “A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, But the slow to anger calms a dispute,” and Proverbs 16:32, “He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, And he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city.” At this point, I believe you can see that the transforming power of the Holy Spirit is intended to affect (for the better) our relationships with other people.
One of the greatest reasons for suffering long and being patient with people is that it demonstrates the greatness and glory of God. We show them the difference the Lord makes in us and what He can do for others as well. Truth be told, the people who are short-tempered are unhappy and probably would rather not be that way, however, they are blinded to the ways of the Lord and do not know how to break the bondage of impatience. There are also people who are enduring their own suffering which may wear them down to a breaking point, and before they realize what is happening they react to a situation in a rash outburst. Handling the situation with patience not only diffuses the tension, it also has the effect of helping the other person to find their way back to the Lord as the source of their strength and rest.
Our anger has the effect of judging a person and a situation, bringing finality and cutting off the possibility of redeeming the other person or the situation for the glory of God. When we suffer long for the sake of the Lord, we surrender ourselves and the situation to be used by Him for His glory and to build His kingdom in the world.
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