“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23 NASB

Patience has always been a struggle for me, but never so much as in these trying times. I decided to follow the example of a friend and hide in my heart the word of God regarding patience. As I feast on these passages, I want to grab truths found that can help me get a firmer grasp on the practice of patience.

The first focal scripture from yesterday is one I know well. The FRUIT of the Spirit working in us, the produce proving His presence in us, is love, joy, peace, PATIENCE, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control or temperance. These are attributes of God revealed in us as the Spirit enlivens the image of God placed in humankind before the fall from grace into sin’s death.

Fruit is that which grows naturally out of a life that surrenders itself to and cooperates with the Holy Spirit of God living in us. The produce of God’s nature cannot mature in soil that is not made ready and fully possessed by God. So the first key to bearing the fruit of patience is to seek the work of God’s Spirit in us from a wholehearted surrender to His will and way, in the soil of a faith that trusts, believes, and receives.