Fruit Of The Spirit ... Longsuffering

March 3, 2016

There are nine (9) Fruit of the Spirit listed in the New Testament. There is another place where it appears that there are three additional Fruits. However, on closer inspection we see that these three (3) additional Fruits are the same ones just with a different name. Long suffering is one of the three. When it is mentioned again, it is called patience. So, any time you see the word patience in the Bible, it can be used interchangeably with long suffering. I mention this because if you use a concordance or bible dictionary, it is possible you will not find one of these words and all scripture may be found under the other word.

" My brethren, count it all joy, when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience."      James   1 ; 2-3

When I first got saved, I thought I needed to learn patience. So I started to pray for that fruit.Through all that followed I continued to pay for patience on a daily basis. Then one day my bible teacher told me I should not pray for that because the way God teaches patience is through trials and tribulations. He was right !  I lost my home, my wife, my job, and all of my possessions three different time !  All in the matter of about a year.  Lesson : Be careful what you pray for... God IS listening .

" But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience. "            Luke    8 : 15

This is the last verse of when Jesus is explaining the parable of the Soils. This parable tells of the four conditions that the heart can be in when it hears the Word of God. Here Jesus says that this is the ONLY way to receive God's Word, to keep it, and to produce good fruit. That is with a good and noble heart. Notice also that it says  "with patience."  Many people think that when a person gets saved, their behavior should change over night. This verse clearly says that it will produce fruit over time with a good heart !

" ...rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer..."     Romans       12 : 12

Here we can see that things that are worth doing as a Christian should be done a certain way. Notice that here again we see the words patient and tribulation together again !! BUT notice also that right after that it says "Continuing steadfastly in prayer." This verse tells us plainly that even in the midst of your troubles and tribulation you should pray continually and steadfastly !!

" The servant therefor fell down before him saying,"Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.""               Matthew    18 : 26

This is a parable that talks about forgiveness and evil. In the parable, the servant is forgiven all of his debt. Then he goes out and beats his servant who owes him money. The Master hears of his double dealing and has him put in jail ! We may say that the master is Jesus and we are the servant. If we deal falsely with Jesus we will be put into jail ( Hell ). Jesus died to forgive our debt (sin) and we are forgiven if we deal straight and ask for forgiveness.

This concludes our study of Long Suffering. Join us next week for a look at Goodness. If you would like to know more about us, we are at www.prayerboxministry.org.