2 Peter 1:5-7 "But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue 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."
Who has never lost your temper or become impatient? I am guessing there is no one out there with your hand raised. For those of us who are parents, it probably happens more often than we would care to admit. I know it does for me. You're already having a bad day/week, or running on too little sleep, and your fuse gets shorter and shorter until you snap. It has happened to all of us. The question is, what can we do to make those times fewer and less often? (I would say vanish, but let's face it - we are human and we are going to slip up.)
According to Peter, there are a few other things that you are required to have before you can master self control and patience, and a few things that will come easier after you have mastered them. The first quality he lists is faith. That one is pretty easy, right? We have our faith in God, and without that, nothing else matters. Virtue should come right on the heels of faith. Webster's defines virtue as "conformity to moral law; uprightness." So if we have faith in God, and most assuredly love Him (for how could we have faith in something we don't love?), we will want to follow His law. This part is a little harder, but we are generally pretty sure we can handle it. The only snag is, how do we know what His law is? Humans in general have an internal moral code, pretty much knowing what is right and what is not acceptable. But how do we know for sure what God wants us to do, and how He wants us to behave? This is where the knowledge comes in. The only way we can have this knowledge is to study what He has given us - the Bible - and apply it to our lives. Just a couple of verses before he gives us this list of qualities we need, Peter tells us that God has "given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness." (2 Peter 1:3) God has told us everything we need to know. All we have to do is study (2 Timothy 2:15) to gain the knowledge that we need.
Next comes the part we are looking for. Self control and patience. If we have faith in God, and want to conform to His law, and study to learn what His law is, we will draw nearer to Him, and His Spirit will help us with our control and patience. With our knowledge we will learn to control our actions. It is okay to be upset or angry, for we have examples of times that both God and Jesus were angry, but we are still to behave in a manner pleasing to God. We are to be slow to anger, not quick-tempered (Proverbs 14:17). And according to Ephesians 4:26, we can be angry without sinning. In John 2:13-16, Jesus was very obviously angry, and took action because of His anger, but there was no sin in it. We must not let ourselves become so angry that we lose our self-control and take actions we would not normally take, that is unacceptable behavior for us as Christians. As we learn to keep control of ourselves, keeping our patience will become easier, too. We can learn to pray, breathe, or whatever it takes to keep us calm, to endure and persevere, which is what patience really is. We will always have situations that try our patience, whether a screaming child, a lazy employee, a long wait, an uncooperative tool, or whatever it may be at any given moment. But each time we overcome, it will get a little easier. James tells us that the testing of our faith produces patience, and that through patience we will mature (James 1:3 & 4).
So, we get to self-control and patience through faith, virtue, and knowledge; but where do self-control and patience take us? Straight to godliness (or holy living), brotherly kindness, and love. If we learn to have self control and persevere, we will be kinder and more loving. That makes sense, right? It all becomes a circle - because of our patience and control, we will act in a kinder and more loving way, and as we become kinder and more loving, we will have an easier time with patience and self-control.
The most important thing to remember is that we can't do it alone. We are human and weak. But, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" and "the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses" (Philippians 4:13 and Romans 8:26). All we have to do is pray for strength, help, and guidance, and we can accomplish anything....even holding on to our patience and not letting our temper get the best of us.
Dearest Father in Heaven, I know that sometimes I am weak and have trouble controlling my temper and staying patient. But You in Your infinite wisdom have given me Your Word and Your Spirit to guide me and help me in my efforts to please You. Please help me to persevere through my trials, whether they are great or insignificant, and to control my tongue and my actions on those occasions when I may become angry or upset. In Christ's name, Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment