But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Galatians 5:22-23
When we give our lives to Christ, the Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit indwells us and lives life alongside us. One of the things that the Holy Spirit does is make us more like Christ. He develops characteristics in us that make us more and more like Him. One of these characteristics is patience. Scripture teaches that patience is one of the "fruits" produced in us by the Holy Spirit.
The Apostle Paul wrote about the Holy Spirit's work in the lives of believers in Galatians 5:16. "So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives." When we do this, Paul stated that we will stay away from sin. He continued teaching about the characteristics that the Spirit develops in Christ's followers. He said, "the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things" (verses 22-23). One of the characteristics listed here is patience. According to Paul, when we give our lives to Christ and the Holy Spirit lives in us, He develops patience within us that is beyond our own ability. As the Spirit makes us more and more like Christ, we develop Christlike patience.
If you have given your life to Christ, that means He is developing patience in you as well. Have you had moments in your life where you found yourself with uncharacteristic patience during a trying time? That was Christ in you! We are still battling sin every day and will never reach perfection on this earth, so we will still have times when we give in to impatience, but we can be sure that God is still working in us and developing His patience. As we follow the Spirit's patience, we will walk further and further away from a lifestyle of sin.
This does not happen overnight. This is a daily process of letting go of our old way of living and embracing life in the Spirit. Like a farmer waiting for his crops to come up, God watches and waits for those fruits to emerge in our lives.
Take a few minutes to evaluate your patience. What is going well? What needs to be improved? After reflecting on these questions, pray. Ask God to continue to develop patience in you as you seek to become more and more like Christ.
So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.
When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.
