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True Christians are Patient and Longsuffering – By Father Andrew Bahhi

August 21, 2022
in Feature Articles, The Word
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When we come to church, we come for many different reasons. But I pray when we come, we come with a passion to the word of God, Jesus and our salvation. Why do I say that? Because the word of God will be here every time you come, there is a lesson and beautiful meaning the Lord wants us to understand in our spiritual life.

For example, our prayers today are about the Book of Matthew. The Lord said three parables, the seed, the yeast and finally the parable of the mustard seed. (Matthew 13:24-43). These parables are written for one reason, to understand who God is and that God is coming to save us.

While he was saying the first parable of the man who sowed wheat in his field, and one night the enemy came and sowed weeds. And when the servants asked if they should pull the weeds, and he said, “Let both grow together until the harvest.” – here the Lord is teaching us about the patients, or as the Bible calls the longsuffering. He the Lord is telling us how much to be patient with things that sometimes do not go in the right way.

Patience and longsuffering are very important Christian virtues – in three areas. We have to be patient with the word of God in our lives, and we have to be patient with others around us, friends, family, co-workers. Even when we drive. And finally, and very important, we have to be patient with ourselves.

This is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. As it says in Galatians 5, these are love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness. If we do not have have longsuffering, we lack the Holy Spirit in our life. Our patience is sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. “By your patience you will save yourselves,” as the Lord says.

There is a perfect time for everything under the sun.

Why is this important for our salvation? It is important for our growth, and to show Christ to others. If we don’t have Jesus, people will not see good role models for Jesus.

Remember when Jesus was on the cross? What happened to disciples? One disciple denied him, another betrayed him, and the rest ran away. Instead of cursing them, Jesus prayed for them. And even more, during the resurrection, he tried to help and visit the disciples.

And know this, the fuel of patience is love. The food the longsuffering eat to sustain themselves is love. So, if one does not have patience and longsuffering, that means they don’t love. This is true with couples and parents, and the love and patience they have for one another. Why? Because you will have pure and unconditional love.

How to live these virtues?

  1. Love until God answers us. The Lord might be late, but He will never ever not show up. When and where? We must trust his good will. He will come when the answer should be received.
  2. We must not judge others.
  3. Be patient with ourselves – and give ourselves time. Realize that as you feed ono spiritual food you are growing. This takes time.

We have to be very good Christian seeking these virtues. And we must work very hard to keep it in our lives. In our prayers, we need to ask “Lord, give me patience. Let me have longsuffering with you, myself and everyone.”

Learn more in Father Andrew’s sermon video here.

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