How to be Longsuffering

    "When you're tempted to lose patience with someone, remember how much patience God shows you."

     Patience is a word that can often be translated longsuffering. This word is used a lot in the Bible and a lot of times it's referring to God being longsuffering toward us. I realized I didn't really know much about what it meant to be longsuffering. The word means, slow to wrath and it's associated with "great kindness" and "plenteous in mercy." The dictionary defines it as: having or showing patience in spite of troubles, especially those caused by other people. Sorta funny how if you flip the word it's suffering long! The opposite is impatient or intolerant. So after studying the word, I came up with 4 tips on how to be longsuffering towards those around us.

1. Remember God is patient with YOU

But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, long-suffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth. Psalm 86:10

We are all sinners. We have all missed the mark and fallen short of the glory of God. Nobody could stand before God and get into Heaven only because they were somehow better than someone else. In reality, we are all equal in our unrighteousness. We must remember how longsuffering God is toward us! I know that's something I take for granted so often. God forgives me despite the fact that I sin daily. Thank goodness His love isn't dependent on my faithfulness, because we all sin and we all make mistakes. When we remember how patient and longsuffering God is with us every day, this will motivate us to show that to others too.

2. Don't strike back with unkind words

Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. Proverbs 18:21

Basically this verse is saying that there are consequences for the words that we say. Words can be used for love (life) and it can be used for hate (death). That's a pretty black and white statement. Either our words are loving and honoring to God, or they're dishonoring to Him and full of hate. When people do things to us that are irritating, offensive or hurtful, we must reject the temptation to retort or rudely strike back. THIS INCLUDES SARCASM. :) Our response to unfair or annoying situations will make or break our testimonies. Our old nature can be so short fused and short tempered. Thank God that He isn't short tempered with me! To be longsuffering, you must be someone who can hold their tongue. 

3. Don't be easily angry

Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to heart, slow to speak, slow to wrath. For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. James 1:19-20

People who are easily angered show a certain kind of weakness, and Proverbs 16:32 reminds us that we are strong when we can rule our spirit. When we are easily angry at our brothers and sisters in Christ, we are doing harm to the gospel of Christ. Instead of promoting the cause of Christ, we are turning people away. God doesn't get easily angry with us when we do things that are wrong - as we saw before, He is longsuffering and plenteous in mercy. Mercy is not giving someone what they do deserve. Maybe someone really wronged you or irritated you, maybe you have a justified reason to be angry with someone. We should be following God's example by not being easily angered. We need to know how to govern and refrain our temper and resist the temptation to show our irritation or frustration. I know this can be SO HARD, especially when someone has wronged us in some huge way. Our fleshly nature has a temper that can so easily get out of control, but it's our job to be slow to wrath.

4. Be kind to others despite what they've done to you

Now I exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, BE PATIENT TOWARD ALL MEN. 1 Thessalonians 5:14

As patient as God is with you is how patient you should be with other people. We need to be loving and kind to people despite the ways they may have wronged us. If God held grudges towards my sin...I'm pretty sure He wouldn't have an ounce of love for me left. But He doesn't do that - He is patient. He forgives quickly and He forgets the things we've done wrong. Maybe there's someone out there who has made you really irritated, or rubs you the wrong way. Maybe there's a person you think poorly of or judge every time you see them. Maybe there's a person who has done something they don't even know offended you, or there might be a person who blatantly hurt you and knows it! It doesn't really matter what other people do to us, because no matter what, we've done worse to God. I think it's something to notice that God doesn't dislike or not love certain people. Sure, He was fed up with the hypocritical Pharisees in the New Testament and had no problem telling them that they were wrong, yet He still loved them and died for Him. Nobody could irritate God enough to make Him stop loving them or cease from showing compassion. In that same way, we need to be kind and patient toward other people, even the people we don't like.  Longsuffering is one of the special marks of Christian grace. When we're longsuffering to our brothers and sisters in Christ, we display a testimony of love and grace. We are able to show others by our actions that we understand that we're forgiven and loved, and therefore we want to show that same love toward others. 

     Honestly, we have no excuse for not being longsuffering. It's an important attribute of God and we need to be trying to conform to His image daily. I feel like in some ways it's become acceptable in the Christian culture to be easily frustrated, irritated or judgmental of our brothers and sisters in Christ, and this simply cannot continue. To reach the lost we must show them that we are people who try to love like God loves, and to do that we have to be longsuffering. This is something I know I will probably be working on till the day I die! Patience, kindness and compassion will get you much further in the Christian life than anger, criticism and condemnation ever will.

Stay excellent!