Be patient, bearing with one another in love.
—Ephesians 4:2
Patience is a tough trait to cultivate. It calls for endurance, humility, restraint, tolerance, calmness, and resignation.
It’s the staying power to endure hard knocks and obnoxious people—a refusal to be irritated, inhibited, and manipulated by events and people over which we have no control.
Warning! Satan will pounce on you here, telling you to be the master of your space, exert your control, defend your importance. Don’t let anyone push you around; be hard-nosed, harsh, judgmental—cantankerous if necessary. If the devil can’t get the upper hand quickly, he will play the long game, patiently working to wear you down. Outdo him in patience—hang in there until he gives up his game.
Love is patient (1 Cor 13:4). God is patient (2 Pt 3:9). You be patient (Eph 4:2).
Without patience, ability bears no fruit.