Patience is MORE than a virtue!

I really love this Bible study I'm doing this semester! It's a study from Beth Moore (an amazing woman of God!) called "Living Beyond Yourself". It addresses the fruit of the Spirit, and each day, I learn something new about what I need to do in order to bear the fruit of the Spirit. This week talked about patience. I was really looking forward to this week because I NEED patience. I have struggled with patience all my life, and I NEEDED this week to learn about patience.

There are two big things I came away with this week involves patience with people. Patience with people is inspired by mercy, which requires forgiveness. The opposite of this patience is judgement. You cannot have patience with a person if you are judgmental of them. Not only does it bring more judgment upon yourself from God, but you cannot have mercy on them if you are judging them. I never saw patience and judgment as opposites, but now I know that this is a stumbling block for me having patience.

The other thing I learned was that frustrating people are placed in our lives to help God change us in some way (as well as that person!). Whether He wants to kill something in us or bring something to life in us, these frustrating people bring out the worst in us for a reason! I am praying that God will reveal to me what he wants me to get rid of/take on in light of the frustrating people in my life. I also learned that change has occurred when you respond differently to the same situation. While God's timing is perfect, I'm praying that He will change me soon so that I can practice patience with these frustrating people in my life!

I just wanted to share this because it helped me. Some of you may need to hear this, too, so I wanted to pass it on! It comforted me and made me know that there really is a time and purpose for everything in our lives!