We live in an instant society. It seems like an already fast-paced world is
getting faster and faster by the day.
Boredom with just about everything is on the rise. If we have to wait for anything, it’s just
not worth it. In such a world, patience
is a much needed virtue.
In our spiritual lives, patience is
even more important. The reality for all
of us is that spiritual maturity and transformation takes time. It’s a process. By just adding (boiling) water you can make
instant oatmeal, but in the life of the Christian it isn’t so simple. Some have mistakenly assumed that after
rising from the waters of baptism and beginning their new life in Christ
everything will be perfect and there won’t be any hiccups along the way. Eventually reality comes along and blows this
misunderstanding to shreds. It becomes
easy to lose patience with others, and especially ourselves. Becoming conformed to the image of Christ is
a long and slow process for the most diligent follower of Jesus. For a slow learner like me, it has at times
proven to be especially frustrating.
But thankfully Jesus is especially
patient. He spent three years with 12
knucklehead disciples and not once did he give up on them. Sure, he occasionally let them know that he
was frustrated with their lack of understanding, but he continued to touch
their lives until his teaching sunk in.
We can be sure that though we so often get it wrong, as long as we
continue to stumble and crawl behind our master we will eventually begin to
resemble the one we follow. Patience is
a virtue and thankfully Jesus has plenty of it! - Shay
No comments:
Post a Comment