Lacking Patience is not the Whole Picture

Galatians 5:22-3 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, against such things there is no law."

We hear it cried out from a Mom struggling with strong-willed children; friends ask as they share their irritations with a husband who doesn't take out the trash; and we ask for it just because we feel we have missed the mark in a particular situation.  What is "it" that we ask for?  PATIENCE!!!!  We cry out for it; we plead for it; we acknowledge our need for it.  Something within us lets us know when we are losing our temper, and right away, we assume our struggle is a lack of patience.  I have good and bad news for that assumption.  Yes, we need patience, but if we look carefully, patience is a part of a whole.  The bad news is we miss the fullness of our needs when we ask for patience alone.  When we 'lose it,' our need is not for more of a part of the LORD but for all of Him. 

Before we get to this fruit of the Spirit, the previous verses say, "Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh." When you or I 'lose it,' we are gratifying the 'desires of the flesh.' If that is true, our need is repentance and lining back up to 'Walk in the Spirit.' 

God never promised to give us part of Himself but all of Himself. 

Let's look at the fruit for a moment.  Why do we single out patience? 

Are you and I "loving" when we ‘lose it'?  Then why don't we ask for more love? 

Are you and I kind when we 'lose it'?  Most likely, we all will say, "No."  Then why don't we ask for more kindness? 

I think the point is made - when we 'gratify the desire of the flesh' or 'lose it,' none of the fruit is visible in our lives.  Ask the person you 'lose it' with.  Are they experiencing God's Spirit through your life at the moment? I can assure you the answer to that question is unequivocally, "No!"

Let us change our request. First, we acknowledge sin, leading to repentance, and then we can recognize the correct need: Lord, help me walk by your Spirit with His complete control over my attitude and actions. Let the Spirit bear fruit that will be present in every life circumstance, especially those I can take for granted daily.

Then, we may stop asking for patience and see a real change.