I recently asked a large group of people how many of them wished they had more patience. Rather than raising their hands, most of them just laughed at the question. Why? Because everyone knows that everyone wants to be more patient.

Why do we need it? Here’s what we think:

The world is full of people who don’t move at our pace. We just need more patience so they all have time to catch up.

The world is also full of people who can’t meet our expectations. We just need more patience until they can meet our standards.

Quite often our idea of patience is just a glorified version of selfishness. It’s awfully centered on me. 

God has a different version of patience that he puts into practice and teaches us to practice. His patience is not about giving us time to catch up to him; nor does his patience give us more time to meet his standards. Those things would be impossible for us to do, even if we were given an eternity to do them.

God’s patience required him to lower himself to our level and slow down to our pace. He holds out the gifts of his grace and equips us with the faith to grasp them. His patience was not for his benefit but for ours. Ask him to teach you this kind of patience too.

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with … patience” (Colossians 3:12).