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Long-suffering is needed to not give up!
In this blog you will learn how you can be patient despite troubles, especially those caused by others.
Having the attribute of long-suffering causes you to have the power to endure unpleasant or difficult situations without backing down. It will give you the restraint and endurance to not quit during moments of frustration, annoyance, or anger.
Mastering this personality will set you apart and make you different than most people because when you are confronted with individuals or circumstances that normally cause people to give up, you will endure.
There are important moments where having the attribute of long-suffering will benefit you like being in a relationship. Relationships can be challenging especially when you are with someone who is prideful, insecure, or selfish. Without being long-suffering, you may leave that relationship prematurely before seeing that person change into someone humble, assured, and selfless.
Your role in their life may be to show them what a healthy loving relationship looks like and when you allow frustration to prevail, this becomes a missed opportunity for both you and them. Your union with that person, regardless of how difficult it is, may be the connection you needed to progress or prosper.
Another example is in leadership. As a leader, you need to be able to endure trying circumstances, be tolerant with people, and respond in a calm, cool, and patient way. The personality of long-suffering will help keep things peaceful instead of making the already challenging experience worse.
Long-suffering helps you to stay focus and not thrown off track. Meaning it prevents you from being misdirected away from your pursuits.
There is a purpose behind having this quality especially if you must work or live with intolerable people or endure inconvenient situations.
How to patiently endure people & tough times
Long-suffering is being able to be patient despite troubles caused by other people (Galatians 5:22-23). It is being able to endure negative situations for a long time without complaining.
You may be living with people who aggravate, disrespect, or irritate you because of their personality. But when you have the nature of long-suffering, you can tolerate them until things change because you have learned to patiently endure lasting offense or hardship. It will help you put up with discomfort or other people's injurious behavior.
God helps us by giving us answers to our problems, but when we become frustrated or angry, we create noise which prevents us from hearing God’s advice. With God's help, instead of responding to situations in an unpeaceful way, you’ll be able to remain compose and hear God’s advice.
An attribute of God is to be long-suffering toward us, something we should strive to emulate. It is part of His character, and since as believers we take part in His divine nature, we can escape the temptation to act out in anger and instead have patience and self-control (2 Peter 1:4).
Our old nature (how we were before we met Christ) can be quick to respond in ways that are not fruitful, but our new nature can respond in ways that's beneficial (Ephesians 4:22-24). Whatever we do and however we think should be compatible with Christ's way of thinking and behaving.
Our long-suffering during difficult situations can create qualities you must have if you want your life to be impactful, influential, and successful.
One of the most important things in life is to have good character because it can shape the outcome of your life. And with the right character, you’ll learn better ways to approach life, have the power to overcome issues, influence others, and establish healthy relationships.
We are created to live a life of influence but having certain character traits can hinder us. But by striving to have qualities like long-suffering, this will be the key to unlocking the limitations in your life.
But when you become a person who is as the Bible puts it, slow to anger, you will see the danger of having bad qualities and the life-changing occurrences of having good ones. Also, you will start to become more like our Creator (Exodus 34:6, 1 Corinthians 11:1).
“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”
—2 Peter 3:9 (ESV).
The Greek word for long-suffering is long and temper. Put it together it says long tempered. When you are long tempered, you don’t get discouraged easily. This happens because you attempt to understand the person or try to make sense of the situation. Also, you know this is just a season or a momentary situation.
Long suffering is having strength. When you are confronted with scenarios that tempt you to act out in an unfavorable way but instead you stay in control—that’s strength.
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
—James 1:2-4 (NIV)
The Scriptures encourage us to endure each other because it’s a characteristic of love (Colossians 3:13). Like 1 Peter 4:8 (NIV) says, “Love for each other covers a multitude of sin.” This is the power of love. As believers, love should be our way of life because it has power and it’s effective.
No one is perfect and situations do not always work out the way we would like. So, instead of having lofty expectations or demanding perfection from others, we should be inclined to tolerate people’s differences.
Tolerance is an essential element for peace, unity, and economic well-being. And when people don’t meet our expectation, we should be willing to understand, help if we can, and be long-suffering until the situation changes. And, as believers, everything that happens to us is for our own good (Romans 8:28).
Not to be easily frustrated or annoyed by other people is liberating. In addition, be tolerant with yourself, understanding that life is a process, and learning is part of that process.
When you are long-suffering, tolerant or patient, it knocks down the walls of pride. Without it, it puts you in a position where you have an unwillingness to respect opinions or beliefs different from your own. And it'll make you demanding, judgmental, and critical when things don’t happen the way you would like them to.
We live in a world where we deal with people that have different personalities and without long-suffering it can create a barrier when interacting with others. It prevents you from being able to learn, understand, and live in harmony.
Long-suffering, being patient, or having tolerance doesn't mean you agree with something or someone—it means you understand. And it means you can adapt to change.
God made us different. He knows that we would all take on different personalities. He knows that we will be of diverse cultures and beliefs. He knows that we would be distinct and unique. He knows we would have our own identity and personality because He created us. He made us to be like Him therefore it is not unusual to see us so different.
God’s many aspects can be found in each one of us, but these expressions are suppressed when we display anything other than love.
God is tolerant, long-suffering, and patient and His tolerance stretches beyond what we need and deserve. God proves this daily by being tolerant in our process to repentance—a demonstration of His love (2 Peter 3:9).
Therefore, let long-suffering be your new distinguishing quality so you can be at peace while allowing joy to fill you instead.
If you have found this blog valuable, please remember to share it on social media below. Sharing is a free way to share the Gospel and to let everyone know they can be content despite being around difficult people or being in inconvenient situations.
When you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, His spirit will come to live inside you. This is one of the greatest blessings of salvation. You don't have to go through someone else to get to God, and He will live in your heart where you and Him become one, have a relationship, and you'll be able to hear His advice of what to do during your tough moments.
All you have to do is make the choice of salvation by repenting and accepting Jesus into your life by confessing that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that He came from Heaven to die for your sins (Romans 10:9).
This decision will help you remain calm, and like Jesus during the storm, you'll relax and be at peace (John 16:33).
