God's Longsuffering

Longsuffering, or patience, the fourth fruit of the Spirit, is a much needed virtue in a fast-paced, impatient world.

We must adopt God's perspective on time, developing longsuffering and developing tranquility under adversity, waiting patiently on God.

Patience is sometimes misunderstood. Many think that it is just sitting and waiting, but exercising patience takes work and sometimes great self-control.

Richard Ritenbaugh, relating a story of a rebellious Siberian Husky he had once owned, compares God's infinite patience with us (compared to our fleeting short-lived patience we have for each other). Like the Husky, the children of Israel severely tested t. . .

Martin Collins, citing a startling 700,000 assaults ("intimate partner violence" episodes) in 2001, accounting for 20% of felonious crime, suggests that patience and longsuffering are diminishing commodities in modern Israel, while selfishness an. . .

Because we would die from exposure to God's glory, the name of God, reflecting His characteristics, is the only way we can approach God.

Now that we have considered the two main Old Testament words for "repentance," we can look at the New Testament Greek word metanoia. ...

Biblically, patience is far more than simple endurance or longsuffering. The patience that God has shown man gives us an example of what true, godly patience is.

Which leadership style do you follow: Andy Griffith's or Barney Fife's? Using experiences from his own life, David Maas explains that the desire to be in control and to win takes a toll on both one's relationships and one's health.

God put up with the foibles of Abraham, Samson, David, Job, and others, allowing them time to repent and build character. We need to develop this godly trait.

Sometimes we are disturbed, even angered, because an act of God seems unfair. We have difficulty because we do not understand holiness, justice, sin, and grace.

David took all the persecutions from King Saul, and then later showed his mercy to Saul's extended family, he demonstrated the true essence of godly love.

The church may fear that the Lord is delaying His coming, and scoffers make the seeming delay worse. However, God is giving people opportunity for repentance.

How often have we heard—or cried ourselves—'How long, O Lord?' Our great hope is in Christ's return, but it seems as if that time is delayed.

Martin Collins, reflecting that the first thing a human being asks when waking up from a nap, "What time is it?" indicates that people process the significance of time differently, depending the time and place they were born. To senior citizens e. . .

David Grabbe, cuing in on II Peter 3, asserts that there are good reasons why Christ has not yet returned, reminding us that scoffers and false teachers will test the faith of those who once accepted the truth. Some will yield to their natural desires, fin. . .

The Bible reveals a definite pattern of God's displeasure with resumption. God's justice always aligns with His righteousness; we should be grateful for His mercy.

We would like God to instantly gratify our desires. Consequently, we find living by faith difficult; we do not trust that He has things under control.

The group that one fellowships with is less important than the understanding that there is one true church, bound by a spiritual, not a physical unity.

David Grabbe, observing that Christ threatened consequences to the Thyatira Church if the congregation did not repent, asserts that God usually grants abundant time for people to repent, but that the recipients of this grace often interpret it as God's tol. . .

Martin Collins, characterizing the scoffer as a dangerous mixture of pride, malice, ignorance, and shallowness with a high degree of combativeness, suggests that scoffers will increase exponentially as we approach the time of Jacob's trouble, the dreadful . . .

Richard Ritenbaugh focuses upon the apostasy of the "eternal security" or "once saved always saved" concept lifted from Protestantism, and ultimately derived from Satan's lie to Adam and Eve, "You shall not surely die" immorta. . .