1 Timothy 1: Christ’s Patience

^“15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. ¹⁶ But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. ¹⁷ Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” -1 Timothy 1:15-17

If there’s one character trait we could all use more of, it’s patience. We want what we want and we want it yesterday. To wait is seen as a negative.

Yet Christ displays his glory through patience. Patience for those who would receive him is mentioned by Paul, yet he is patient in many other ways as well. The one who became a newborn and lived over 30 years on this planet certainly would have sensed impatience at many points along the way. Yet his patience also shows our need to endure waiting as a way to become more Christ-like.

Being forced to wait is not intended to encourage our anger, accelerate our gas pedals, or increase honking our car horns. Patience is part of the fruit of the Spirit, and one we need to dine on much more often.

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Dillon Burroughs is the author and coauthor of numerous books and is handwriting a copy of all 31,173 verses of the Bible at HolyWritProject.com. Find out more about Dillon at Facebook.com/readdB or readdB.com.