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But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Galatians 5:22-23 
English Standard Version (ESV)

Patience with ourselves.
Patience with others.
Patience with God.

The Lord is compassionate and gracious, 
slow to anger, abounding in love.

Psalm 103:8 
New International Version (NIV)

Where do you need 
patience with yourself?

Love your neighbor as yourself.
(Who is our neighbor? Everyone!)

Mark 12:31(NIV)

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, 
it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

1 Corinthians 13:4-5(NIV)

Patience gives your spouse permission to be human. 
It understands that everyone fails. When a mistake is made, it chooses to give them more time that they deserve to correct it. It gives you the ability to hold on during the rough times in your relationship 
rather than bailing out under the pressure.

Alex and Stephen Kendrick, 
The Love Dare

Where do you need 
patience with others?

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts. The Lord Almighty is with us; 
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Come and see what the Lord has done, the desolations he has brought on the earth. He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he runs the shields with fire. He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; 
I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” 
The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Psalm 46 (NIV)

“Be still, and know that I am God; 
I will be exalted among the nations, 
I will be exalted in the earth.”

Psalm 46:10 (NIV)

Patience goes hand-in-hand with waiting

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. 
He does not grow faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, 
and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait 
for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and to be weary, 
they shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40:28-31 (NRSV) 
New Revised Standard Version

Where do you need to be patient and wait on the Lord?

If you’re serious about sanctification 
[getting ever closer to God], 
you can expect to experience heart-wrenching moments that try your faith, your endurance, and your patience.

Sheri Dew, 
If Life Were Easy, It Wouldn’t Be Hard: 
And Other Reassuring Truths

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1-3 
New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Faith is taking God’s promises 
and daring to believe them. – Alpha Guide, page 25

“…the classic Christian tradition has always valued rationality, and does not hold that faith involves the complete abandonments of reason…” – -Peter S. Williams, peterswilliams.com

Faith is not a blind leap, but a step forward, 
based on evidence. – Alpha Guide, page 24

Perseverance: steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.  -Dictionary.com

“A bend in the road is not the 
end of the road…
Unless you fail to make the turn.”  – Helen Keller

“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. 
In fact, it may be necessary to encounter defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still 
come out of it.” – Maya Angelou

“Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.” – Henri Cartier-Bresson

“By perseverance the snail 
reached the ark.” – Charles Haddon Spurgeon

“In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins, not through strength but by perseverance.” – H. Jackson Brown Jr.

Therefore we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith during all your persecutions and the afflictions that you are enduring.

2 Thessalonians 1:4 NRSV

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, 
and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 12:1-2 NRSV

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

2 Timothy 4:7-8 NRSV

Here’s one description you won’t hear from my friends: triple-amputee veteran of the Iraq War.
That description is accurate – up to a point.  Yes, I fought in Iraq. I was wounded  in an IED blast. And I lost both of my legs
and my left hand. But none of that defines me.  It has been 11 years since my injury. And it has been 11 years since I last thought being wounded in war would ruin my life.
– Bryan Anderson, Guideposts (7/16, pg. 30)

“You know you have basically 
two options here, right?”
I nodded. “Yup. Move on – or roll over and die.”
“And you’re going to…”
“Move on,” I said.

I still remember that moment in the hospital when Mom asked me what I planned to do — roll over and die, 
or move on. In a way, it’s a question everyone faces at some point in their lives. Sometimes people have to ask that question every day. Now you know why my answer is move on, move up, keep going. What happens to you is not an accident, not a cruel twist of fate. It’s the life God intended for you to live. Live it. 
And if you’re anything like me, you’ll live it at top speed.

Perseverance
(Running the Race: Enduring to the End by Diane Drew):

Desire – Preparation – Discipline – Obedience

SO WHAT ABOUT YOU?

Are you taking God’s promises and daring to believe them?

Are you running the race with faithful perseverance?

PERSPECTIVE IS EVERYTHING

Numbers 13 & 14
Moses leading the Hebrew people

Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.” But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

Numbers 13:30-33
New International Version (NIV)

“If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for 
us to go back to Egypt?” And they said to each other, 
“We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”

Numbers 14:2b-4 (NIV)

IT’S ALL ABOUT PERSPECTIVE

Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered there. Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes and said to the entire Israelite assembly, “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will devour them. Their protection is gone, 
but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them.” 
But the whole assembly talked about stoning them.

Numbers 14:5-10a (NIV)

“We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes,
and we looked the same to them.”

Numbers 13:33b (NIV)

IT’S ALL ABOUT PERSPECTIVE

How often do we allow other things to dictate our perspective?

So…how about you?

What’s your perspective?