Lighting Up Our City Video 7: The Importance of PerseveranceSample

Day 3:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23 NIV)

Long-distance races require more than just a quick start. The same is true for living a life of faithfulness to God.

To be clear, our beginning does matter. To become a Christian, we must start with recognizing our sin and how it has separated us from God. Then, we accept the gift of salvation offered through Jesus. At that moment, our salvation is complete and assured for eternity. But that is just the beginning of the journey God intends for us.

Throughout our lives, the Holy Spirit will be at work, shaping us to be more like Jesus. He will help us grow Christlike characteristics of love, joy, peace, forbearance, goodness, kindness gentleness, and self-control, which Galatians 5:22-23 tells us are “the fruit of the Spirit.”

Perhaps the most uncommon word on that list is forbearance. Oxford Languages defines it as “patient self-control, restraint and tolerance.” Forbearance means we have patience as we trust God to work in our lives.

This can be a hard concept in our microwave-ready, automatic-coffeemaker world. We want things – even spiritual growth – to happen instantly so we can carry on with our plans.

But allowing the Spirit to cultivate His fruit in our lives requires accepting delays or troubles without demanding our own way. As we learn to make the daily decision to allow God to work in our lives, we become more Christlike and take on more of the characteristics of our Heavenly Father.

Who we are and how we treat others becomes more important than our instant gratification. We trade our desires for God’s priorities. As we humbly trust God, He gives us the strength we need to continue running our spiritual race. He helps us persevere.

Ask the Lord to show you His perspective on patience and why it matters more than chasing after our own agendas. Trust Him and allow the Spirit to grow His fruit in your life.

By Dawn Tolbert