Jesus, The Master of Patience

Jesus, The Master Of Patience

                                       

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Paul writing to the Galatians, 5:22-23  

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control...

As a Boy Scoutmaster and a middle school teacher I really learned the meaning and need for patience.

I would teach my young scouts the need to keep a knife sharp, as one will cut themselves with a dull knife more often than a properly used sharp knife.   Far too often, in their impatience and not heeding the teachings, they would cut themselves when forcing a dull knife to whittle a stick.  Then after our failure and as so many of us in wanting our way, we heed the good teacher of doing things right.  We always had plenty of bandages.

In another instance, in the classroom I taught the need to use flashcards (*1)  for learning new material as it reduces your time to study.  On the first test one semester, two good students made a 100.  One said he spent about an hour making flash cards and an hour studying.  The other did not make flashcards and spent four hours in study to make the same grade.  When I asked the student why he did not make flashcards, he said, "I didn't have time."  He learned the importance of having patience in following and heeding the instructions of the teacher, a person who knew best for his behavior.

Patience in Following Directions

How often is it, that we do not have the patience to follow and heed instructions or sometimes, even read the instructions.  We then take excessive time to complete a project, fail to complete a project correctly, or just fail to accomplish the task required because we did not read.

My students learning the skill of typing often learned the importance of patience and following directions; often by the experience of watching their friends type faster simply because of the friend following directions.  In learning the typing skill effectively, it was important to learn to type without looking at their fingers.  The student would have the opportunity to look at their fingers in learning a new letter, but very quickly I required them to cover their fingers for their daily practice.  In patience I would warn them about peeking at their fingers, to slow down, not use the backspace key, and "have patience with yourself".  "But Mr. Coggins, I can type faster if I look at my fingers," was the response.  But, as they saw their friends typing faster without looking at their fingers, they adopted my teachings and began to achieve good results as their friends.

Perhaps the greatest lesson I taught was having patience with themselves in following the directions of someone who knows what is best for them.  I also learned to have patience with the students by forgiving their earlier sorry results and grading their best performance in the last week for each quarter grade.  I found that their sins of past classroom mistakes being held against a student held them back from achieving their best later on.  Imagine that!

Jesus, In all His Power, He Had Patience 

In the same manner, Jesus was kindly patient with His disciples.  So many times, they showed ignorance of His mission and failed to respect people as he taught by his words and behavior what was best for their lives.  On two occasions  Jesus had to explain the parables to the disciples, Matthew 13:36, Matthew 15:15.  In all the teachings of Jesus, seeing the hatred of the Jewish leaders, and knowing the prophecy, in Matthew 16, Peter confesses Jesus as the "Christ, Son of the Living God", and just minutes later protested that Jesus just could not die at the hands of the Temple leaders.  How frustrating it must have been for Jesus.

IN ALL THIS FRUSTRATION Jesus endured with His disciples especially after waiting some 30+ years before even starting His ministry.  Imagine the self-control Jesus had when for years he saw the corrupt society the Jewish Temple leaders had come to create in their position to consort with Herod to keep the Jews under control.  He knew what His ministry had to be, yet he had to wait for God’s timing to start His ministry.  Imagine going all those years to Passover in Jerusalem and smelling the stench.  The stench developed over a full week of killing upwards to hundreds of thousands of birds and lambs slain as "forgiveness of sins", every Passover!  Birds and lambs sold by the Temple vendors at exorbitant prices that fatten the bank of the Temple leaders.  Jesus was patient for 30+ years until it was the right time to lash out at this corrupted practice of the old covenant and chastise the temple leaders as in Matthew 23.

Imagine the patient restraint Jesus showed as the Pharisees, the teachers of the law, the Sadducees  and their lawyers came to Him trying to trick him.  Trying to make Him say something they could then turn on Him to kill Him for blasphemy.  Never once were they successful because in self-controlled patience, Jesus listened and was always in control.   

I wonder if Jesus seethed in his patience as the Pharisees came to him wanting to see a sign from Him when He had clearly showed his abilities in times past.

And then, in His final moments, the patience Jesus had when He was in the Garden of Gethsemane and His disciples slept as he prayed and sweated tears of blood. 

It is interesting that in all of the Gospels, Jesus never used the word patience.  Yet patience was a required behavior and an example to us as a requirement of Jesus to accomplish His ministry.  

But for St. Paul patience was a keyword in living life as he taught and wrote his letters; in fact he teaches that 'patience' is a fruit of the Holy Spirit!  When living in the Holy Spirit in accordance with God's divine plan for our lives, the Holy Spirit leads us in patience and self-control!  Just as patient self-control was required for Jesus to complete His ministry, so to it is the same patient self-control required of us in our ministry.  We too must be patient in leading others to Christ and in being a good Christian example to those around us.

I had patiently led students in the proper methods of good typing skills, and then in patience allowed students to patiently learn for themselves the lessons I had for them.  Similarly, we too must patiently adopt and teach the lessons Jesus taught.  So to it is with our adoption of all gifts of the Holy Spirit.  

If we want people around us to truly know and be convinced of righteousness of the ways of Jesus, we must in patient self-control, living and teaching the lessons of Jesus.  Just as some of my students would not immediately adopt the lessons taught, neither will everyone come to know the full righteousness of Jesus immediately.  We must be a good example just as some of my students were the good examples to the other students in my classroom.  Just as with Jesus with His disciples, it is in our patience we must let people learn that the ways of the Master Jesus are good for us.  In doing so, just as with the disciples, those around us will come to the full knowledge that in Jesus' death and Resurrection, God verified Jesus' teachings and His behaviors for us to follow.  In that knowledge and wisdom, people around us will also know Jesus’ words and actions are God's plan for our righteous living and are truly perfect for our lives.

It is in God's Patience with us
            we are given our eternal Salvation.

Thanks be to God

lonnie

© lonnie coggins

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Publication  0107


intro
JESUS WAS THE MASTER OF MANY THINGS.  But Patience was perhaps difficult.  He was fully human yet still had to be patient.  Sometimes we have no control and we have to be patient.  This is wise, but greater wisdom and leadership is having control but allowing people to learn from their mistakes and their impatience.  Click for some more  thoughts on the patience of Jesus.  AND DO RIGHT NOW!  oh my....my impatience is showing.  Click the link below.....please.
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http://lonnieadailythought.blogspot.com/2013/02/jesus-master-of-patience.html

Publication  0107

*1- Flash cards, put a question on the front and the answer on the back.    As you learn the question and answer, put it in a pile separate from what you don't know.  Then study the don't know pile.  After, you think you know it all.  Go back through all the cards again.