2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Longsuffering is to patiently endure things we dislike for extended periods of time. God is most often referred to as longsuffering in the Bible, on account of His hate for sin but His love for sinners. As previously described in the section on love we went over how to love is to put others before yourself. In this sense we should be prepared to endure things we do not like in order to help set others right.
Numbers 14:18 The Lord is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression...
Proclaiming the Gospel we may find ourselves mocked, insulted, falsely accused, persecuted, fired, imprisoned, attacked, tortured, or at worst killed: but these are no reasons to not do it. We should put aside our aversions to negative worldly consequences of faithfully serving God and helping others.
1 Timothy 1:12 And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; 13 Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. 14 And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.
15 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. 16 Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.
As we can see from the case of Paul, if we carry on with endurance and forgiveness we can see even the worst of sinners transformed into some of the greatest servants of God. Ultimately it is a win-win situation when you boldly preach without concern for yourself: if we suffer we win glory for God, and if we successfully reach sinners then we win souls for God.
Luke 23:34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do...
5. Gentleness
James 3:17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
Christianity is truly a religion of peace: God hates violent and bloody men. We should aim to not hurt others, taking Jesus as our example we can see that physical fighting was never an option for him. Though his apostles took up the sword and Peter cut a mans ear off in defence of Jesus: he immediately faced rebuke for this, and Jesus helped to heal a man who was to lead him to the cross.
Matthew 5:39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
There may be a number of Christians out there who see self-defence as a viable option, however this goes against the teachings of Jesus who was very much pacifistic in his commands and this leaves little interpretation when we are commanded not to kill: if we find ourselves in a case of "us or them" dying, then - unless the Lord intervenes - it is for us to lay our lives down rather than our enemies.
Luke 3:14 And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages.
We can actually expand on gentleness here, in that it is not only our physical actions where we are to be gentle but also in our speech. Words such as false accusations can indeed be harmful and we should strive to not engage in such things as lies, condemnation, insults, and so on.
Proverbs 15:1 A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.
It is wise to seek to be softly-spoken and sensibly season our speech with salt, in order to avoid turning encounters ugly. We do not want to escalate situations but to keep things mutually-gentle whenever possible and in so doing we can be called peacemakers.
Matthew 10:16 Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
6. Goodness
Pro 20:6 Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?
Goodness like the rest of these fruits is another attribute of God. As the Proverb goes, everyone generally thinks there are good, however this is rarely the case when the Psalms tell us that there is none that doeth good, no not one. We are unable to do good things without being born again and acting through the Holy Spirit who does the good works and makes us righteous and justified.
Romans 1:17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
It is through faith that we can let the Holy Spirit do good things through us. This is not earthly wisdom but spiritual wisdom because we are not saved by works. Our own good deeds are as filthy rags- when you try to wipe the blemish off the window you only smear and make it worse.
Romans 4:5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
There are many ways that righteousness can be demonstrated, through keeping the commandments and hating evil is chief, serving others, charitable actions, restraint and so on. To fully express the righteousness of God we need to keep studying the Bible and having the word in us in meditation day and night and so that the Spirit can call to remembrance occasions where we can do good, or avoid not doing good.
Titus 2:2 That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience. 3 The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;
4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, 5 To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.
6 Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded. 7 In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, 8 Sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you.
Titus 2:2 That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience. 3 The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;
4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, 5 To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.
6 Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded. 7 In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, 8 Sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you.
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