Imagine sitting in your car during peak-hour traffic. A reckless driver swerves in front of you, nearly colliding with your vehicle, then, a few moments later, indicates to cut back into the lane where you have patiently waited for the past thirty minutes. Do you edge forward to block him, or do you smile and hold back to let him in? If you are walking in the Spirit, you may find yourself doing the latter. Such an attitude need not be a figment of the imagination. Those who walk in the Spirit will manifest the characteristic disposition of the longsuffering believer.
The Explanation of the Harvest
Perhaps the most basic definition of “patience” (or “longsuffering,” in older translations) is “a willing restraint of one’s rights.” We might think of patience as bearing with circumstances over which one has no control, but the biblical term suggests restraining one’s rights in situations over which one does have control. God himself is described as patient, and there is no circumstance over which he does not have control. He willingly restrains his right to pour out immediate justice.
The underlying Greek word literally means “long-spirited” or “forbearing”—slow to anger. Louw and Nida describe it as “a state of emotional calm in the face of provocation or misfortune.” Trench defines it as “withholding the power to avenge oneself.” It is the attribute ascribed to God in texts such as Exodus 34:6 and 2 Peter 3:9. God does not pour out his wrath immediately because he has an end in view: the salvation of his elect. Patience is a biblically rational response when we are wronged.
When applied to human beings in Scripture, patience deals primarily with our relationships to one another. If the unity of the body is to be guarded, we must learn to be patient with each other. If we fail to control our emotions and forbear one another, we risk the consuming rivalries that threatened to destroy the Galatian church.
The Imitation of the Harvest
There is a plastic fruit of patience prevalent in today’s world. Irresolution or mere compliance with evil is sometimes mistaken for it. But biblical patience has backbone. God reveals himself in Exodus 34:6–7 as “slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,” yet the same text declares that he “will by no means clear the guilty.” His patience is holy longsuffering. He neither indulges nor excuses sin, though he withholds wrath for a season.
Refusal to deal with sin is not a mark of spirituality. Jesus Christ was without doubt the most patient man ever to walk the earth, yet he cleansed the temple twice and addressed the Pharisees in Matthew 23 with seven stinging rebukes of woe and hypocrisy. Patience does not mean absence of righteous indignation. It means holding back anger, within scriptural bounds, for a time—always with the end in view.
The Application of the Harvest
There are three key applications of patience in the Christian life.
First, patience is necessary for effective ministry. Paul charges Timothy: “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching” (2 Timothy 4:2). People do not always grasp the word of God the first time they hear it. Jesus instructed his disciples repeatedly on the same matters—and though they did not always understand immediately, he was longsuffering with them. If we are to disciple others effectively, we must be prepared to bear with them as they stumble and fall, instructing them with longsuffering until they grow in Christ.
Second, longsuffering is indispensable for unity. Paul writes: “Walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:1–3). No church is perfect. Elders and members alike have weaknesses. When a member is restored to fellowship after discipline, we are not excusing sin—we are accepting repentance and acknowledging our own need for grace. Such patience protects the unity of the body.
Third, God requires us to be patient toward others because he is patient toward us. In Matthew 18, a servant whose enormous debt has been cancelled refuses to extend the same mercy to a fellow servant who owes a small amount. His master’s response is severe: “You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?” (Matthew 18:32–33). Because God has been patient to us, he expects us to be patient toward others.
The Cultivation of the Harvest
Patience can only grow in the fertile soil of love, joy, and peace—all of which are themselves fruits of the Spirit. Nothing in this cluster of graces is a mere personality trait; each is a supernatural gift of God. Paul prayed that the Colossians would be “strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy” (Colossians 1:11). Since patience is a fruit of the Spirit, it cannot be produced apart from the power of God.
The key to patience is a continued awareness of the presence of God. James, writing to believers suffering wrong at the hands of unjust employers, exhorts: “Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord” (James 5:7). As long as his readers understood that “the coming of the Lord is at hand” (James 5:8), they could endure. And as long as we remain aware of the Lord’s presence in our lives, we can be longsuffering toward others. This awareness drives us to prayer, which is precisely where patience is cultivated.
The Manifestation of the Harvest
As with every aspect of this fruit, the greatest manifestation is seen in the Lord Jesus Christ. He was patient with his apostles for three years, instructing them again and again. Yet perhaps the most moving illustration is his restoration of Peter.
Peter had been the most vocal in declaring his loyalty: He would never forsake Jesus, even if all the others did. Yet during Jesus’ trial, Peter took an oath and denied that he knew him—three times. When the rooster crowed, Jesus looked at Peter. Guilt overwhelmed the disciple and he went out and wept bitterly.
When the women came to the empty tomb on the Sunday morning, the angel’s message was pointed: “Go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee” (Mark 16:7). Peter was singled out by name—a gesture of extraordinary grace. When Jesus met Peter at the Sea of Galilee, he did not condemn him but restored him, three times asking, “Do you love me?” and commissioning him: “Feed my sheep” (John 21:16). How patient would most of us have been with Peter? Many would have written him off. But Jesus had the long end in view. Because of the Lord’s patience, Peter matured to become a pillar of the early church.
Let us be Christlike in our treatment of others—patient, absorbing wrong with the joy of the Lord. Let us give the reckless driver a break, and in doing so, manifest the harvest of longsuffering in our lives.
About the author
Doug Van Meter is the pastor-teacher of Brackenhurst Baptist Church in Johannesburg, South Africa. He is married to Jill and together they have five daughters, four sons-in-in-law and a growing number of grandchildren.
