I remember hearing for years the phrase “patience is a virtue” as being a Bible verse. Do you know that verse is not in the Bible? It is from a poem written between 1360 and 1387 by William Langland, who wrote “Piers Plowman.”
Ten years later there was a similar theme written called “Canterbury Tales” by Chaucer. Later many Latin and French authors had their literary versions of the subject of patience being a virtue.
So the origin of the phrase “patience is a virtue” cannot be pinpointed to any one person. However, it is entirely Biblical.
- John Piper has said: “The strength of patience hangs on our capacity to believe that God is up to something good for us in all of our delays and detours.”
- Elizabeth Elliott stated: “I realized that the deepest spiritual lessons are not learned by His letting us have our way in the end, but by His making us wait, bearing with us in love and patience until we are able to honestly to pray what He taught His disciples to pray: Thy will be done.”
VERSES ON PATIENCE:
Proverb 25:15: “With patience a ruler may be persuaded, and a soft tongue will break a bone.” Patience is a mighty weapon.
Proverbs 15:1: “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”
Proverb 16:32: “Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.”
Romans 12:12: “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.”
1 Corinthians 13:4: “Love is patient and kind . . . it is not irritable or resentful.”
Galatians 5:22: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness.”
Ephesians 4:2: “With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love.”
Colossians 3:12: “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.”
2 Timothy 2:24-25a: “And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness.”
Sitting in my car, on the 5, 60, or 405, and the traffic moving only 10 – 15 miles per hour is torture. That happens to me weekly in my sales job. Sitting in a doctor’s waiting room waiting to get test results afflicts us with anxiety. Waiting for prayers to be answered for a wayward child is another area in life where our faith and patience is tested.
Bayless Conley has said: “A number of years ago I heard one person say that faith is like your hand and patience is like your arm. When you exercise faith, it is like holding up your hand against the problem, and as you do, things are being worked out. But if you take your patience down, your faith comes down with it.
Patience is the thing that keeps your faith applied until the answer comes.”
Yes, “patience is a virtue” is not a verse found in the Bible. However, a person that has integrity and godly behavior must display: wisdom, courage, compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, love, good manners, courtesy, courage, modesty, self-control, and last but not least, patience.
- Delays
- Detours
Display the virtue of patience all the while having faith in God’s divine timing and plan.
Rejoice and give thanks to the Lord for all that He has done in answering many prayers in the past, and those that He will answer in the future.
I just glanced at a peace of paper with a verse I had written down that spoke to me months ago. I have had it sitting next to my laptop on my desk. Talk about being hit over the head! It is so applicable right now! This is it. God is speaking to me through 2 Corinthians 4:18 NLT: “So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.” That is better than taking Pepto-Bismol! “This too will pass (quote from my Grandma Helmers).”
Are you waiting for an answer from the Lord about a particular burden or answer to a problem? My heart is often touched through music. Listen to John Waller’s song “While I am Waiting” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9DTwLOxzhE
My prayer for today: “God I don’t feel like displaying patience right now. Being irritable seems to be much easier in comparison. I am not very tolerant in waiting for delays to solutions needed, and for my own expectations just not happening. But your Word tells me it is the right thing to do. Thank you for loving me unconditionally and for your amazing patience with me time and time again as you intercede on my behalf. My hope is in You. Show me what I need to know in order to participate with you in your divine plan for my life. I want to be aware of your activity and spiritual plan in it all. Amen.”