Be Patient With Me

[Paul said,] “I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”

Philippians 1:6

PBPGINFWMY.

If you’ve been a Christian for many years, you may know right away what that string of letters means. And if you were a child of the 60s or 70s, you might remember this right along with “groovy” and “peace, man.”

For the uninitiated, PBPGINFWMY means “Please be patient; God is not finished with me yet.” Back in the 70s, this acronym graced all sorts of items—from clothing to plaques to spiral notebooks from Kmart.

The Scripture verse for today reminds us that, indeed, we are all still works in progress, and it gives us several good thoughts to ponder. First, it frees us from expecting ourselves to be perfect. God is continually shaping us into what he wants us to eventually be, so he’s not expecting us to be perfect either.

Another thing to take to heart is that God loves us and thinks we are worth his time and effort. He’s excited about the masterpieces we’re becoming. Sometimes we may not like the fact that God keeps working, because it can feel like a fire that never ceases to cause pain. But little by little we see the results—in our attitudes and actions and in the positive responses we receive from others.

And since we’re still in process ourselves, we can look at others and realize they’re masterpieces in progress too. That can help us have patience and understanding and show grace to others.

God is not finished with any of us yet!