Showing Patience

Showing Patience

Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.

Ephesians 4:2

PATIENCE MEANS ACCEPTING the imperfections of others. By nature, we want others to be as good as we are (or as good as we think we are), as on time as we are, or as organized as we are. The reality is, humans are not machines. The rest of the world does not live by our priority list; our agenda is not their agenda. It’s especially important for couples to remember this. In a loving relationship, patience means bearing with our spouse’s mistakes and giving him or her the freedom to be different from us.

When is the last time you were impatient with your significant other? Did your impatience come because he or she failed to live up to your expectations? I don’t think it’s coincidence that Ephesians 4:2 links humility with patience. When we’re humble, we realize that the world doesn’t revolve around us and that we don’t set the standard for behavior. And when that’s our mind-set, we’re far less likely to become impatient.

The Bible says, “Love is patient and kind” (1 Corinthians 13:4). If in impatience you lash out at your loved one, love requires that you apologize and make it right. Work for more patience in your marriage.

Lord, I need more patience. Please teach me to let go of my expectations—for what others should be like, for what I should be able to accomplish, and for what I think I’m owed. Help me to treat my husband or wife with loving patience.

Patience