I have always heard the term, “Patience is a virtue,” but no one ever told me how to get it. What about you? Would you like more patience? Over the years I think I have found some keys. I hope they help. Patience!

Patient - 1: bearing pains or trials calmly or without complaint, 2: manifesting forbearance under provocation or strain, 3: not hasty or impetuous, 4: steadfast despite opposition, difficulty, or adversity, 5 able or willing to bear (Webster Dictionary Definition)

Over the years I have become a more patient person, but in my younger days I was very impatient. I wanted patience so much that I decided to search after it. My patience has increased over the years in direct proportion to my knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. The more I walked with Him, the more I understood and the more I trusted Him to bring things to pass in His timing and in His way. I stopped trying to make things work my way and in my time and began to yield to Him. The more victories I experienced, the more it increased my faith. The following scripture means so much to me and I have bolded key words.

2 Peter 1:1-11 “To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours: Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Here is my understanding of the above scripture. In the second paragraph it states “through these.” What are these? They are: righteousness, faith, grace, peace, knowledge of God, divine power, glory, goodness.

First of all, we can only be righteous by accepting His gift of righteousness. We are only righteous through Christ. There is nothing we can do to be righteous, it is a gift.

Secondly, it is through this righteousness that we receive faith. Jesus talks about our faith being like a mustard seed. He also states that when it is mature it grows to become one of the largest trees. The key here is grows. The key to our lives is growing. We start at the starting line and we don’t finish until we leave this earth, ever increasing faith.

Grace and Peace – It says that grace and peace be ours in abundance. How? Through the knowledge of God. As we walk with Him and learn His ways, we start to understand grace and peace. They are gifts too. It is His grace that enables us to do what we can’t and it is His peace that stills our hearts and minds. All we have to do is ask for them when we need them.

His Divine Power – His power gives us everything we need for LIFE and GODLINESS through our knowledge of Him. He is all-powerful. There is nothing that can stop Him or over come Him. We are safe with Him. There is no power in heaven, on earth, or under the earth that can compare.

One thing I had to learn was that my faith grows as I continue to walk with Him. I don’t have to have great faith right away. It is a growing process. I don’t have to be perfect as a Christian – it is a process. It takes time to change. It takes time to overcome certain habits. It takes time to unlearn certain ways of doing things. It takes a little time to establish truth where there were lies. We change day by day.

The world demands heroes who are perfect. They don’t exist. Jesus Christ was the only perfect man and they crucified Him. He made of Himself no reputation but hung out with those who were outcasts, the tax collectors, the cheats, the prostitutes and such. In the church, we expect the exact opposite, perfection. We kill each other with our insecurities and fears. Jesus knew what was in the heart of men and He only put His total trust in Father. How was He so patient? He simply trusted in Father, listened and obeyed.

Let’s realize that we are on a journey. We are human and we will make mistakes. A baby falls again and again while he tries to learn how to walk. Do we call him a failure? I think not. Eventually, he learns to walk, SO DO WE. Relax, you will make it. Proverbs 24:16, “though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity” The number seven represents completely. Though we fall and fail completely, with His help we get up again. We WILL overcome if we don’t give up. If we can get this, we are real close to developing the patience we need. Truth brings patience. Lies, deceit and fear are all tools to increase impatience.

Peter gave us the keys to become effective and productive people. Let us take the faith we are given and add goodness, then add knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love. These are building blocks. By His grace, through an ever increasing knowledge of Him as we walk with Him, and through His power we can become more effective and productive. Let us continue to study His word and gain understanding. Patience comes with understanding.

I hope this has helped. Check out my other posts and stories for encouragement and understanding. Here is a post I wrote on the Armor of God. Find the keys of the Kingdom and use them to overcome and live an effective and productive life. If you have any questions or would like to know more about a certain topic, please write and let me know using our Contact form.

Joseph