A Sunday School Lesson On Patience

Here is a Sunday school lesson or Bible study on patience from the Bible.

Examples of Patience

James 5:10 “As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.”

The Bible is full of godly examples of faith in suffering. That is what James is writing about in James chapter 5 and writes that “we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful” (James 5:11). We can read in the Hebrews chapter 11 about the patience of those who were martyred for God or had faith in God as the author of Hebrews writes that they “all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth”(Heb 11:13) and “And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised” (Heb 11:39) so “since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb 12:1-2).

Have you seen fellow Christians suffer and be good examples of patience?

Do you have a shortage or an abundance of patience?

How did you have to be patient in suffering or persecution within the last few days, weeks, or year?

Patiently Waiting

James 5:7 “Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains.”

James wrote a lot about suffering and the patience that we’re to have since he saw so much persecution in his lifetime among the Christians. Having patience while you suffer is not easy. Just look at any emergency room and you’ll see people suffering from injuries or sickness while they have to wait and they seem anything but patient. They have faith that they’ll receive help and that allows them to be somewhat more patient in waiting but it seems that the worse the suffering is, the harder it is to wait and be patient. I make a very poor patient when waiting in the doctor’s office, at the dentist, for an appointment or even waiting on someone else. I believe we can be more patient if we know that relief is coming and for the believer, we must have patience knowing that the Lord is coming and just as a farmer is patient for the fruit of his or her labor, we too must be patient for those “late rains” or for us, the arrival of Jesus Christ.

Why is waiting hard for us?

Are you waiting for something now?

Are you suffering and eagerly await Jesus’ coming?

God is Supremely Patient

First Timothy 1:16 “But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.”

Paul would add from the Book of Romans that “What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory” (Rom 9:22-23) showing that God is supremely patient with us and with sinners too, giving them time to repent just as God was patient with Paul, who at the time as Saul, was busy trying to destroy the church (Acts 8:1-2) so he understood better that we might “presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance” (Rom 2:4).

Why is God patient with sinners?

Why was He patient with us in giving us time to repent and believe?

Was God patient with Saul (or Paul)?

Patience; a Fruit of the Spirit

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

Patience is actually one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit for which we cannot take credit. When we are saved, we should, in time, be bearing these fruits, including that of patience. This was why Paul had concerns that we walk worthy of our calling as he wrote in Ephesians 4:1-3, “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Since we’ve been called to be ‘with patience,” I believe part of this patience is needed to bear “with one another in love” and make us “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit.”

Is it hard to be patient with some people, even Christians?

Was God patient with us before we were saved?

Without patience, can these other fruits of the Spirit be shown easily?

Conclusion

I urge you in your study to look at all of the Bible verses and read them aloud in the class so that you can get the most out of this lesson on patience which is indispensable for the Christian just as “With patience a ruler may be persuaded, and a soft tongue will break a bone” (Prov 25:15). Patience is more than a virtue; it is a fruit of the Holy Spirit of God and every believer, as a new creation in Christ (2nd Cor 5:17) should be growing in love, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control and patience.

Has your patience grown in the last year?

Why does it seem like the world is not patient at all?

What have you learned about patience in this study?

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren Church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.