The fruit longsuffering, is a fruit, that is needed in our world Today. Kangaki, do people loose their patience and become angry, when someone insults them? Kangaki, do people feel offended, upset, and want to take revenge, because someone has mistreated them? Kangaki, do people complain and murmur because of the situation they are experiencing. Izikhathi eziningi, people loose their patience and let their feelings and emotions rule over them. What does the Bible say about the fruit longsuffering?
What causes you to loose your patience?
When you loose your patience, it is because something happened ngokumelene lakho intando noma expectations. Some causes can be: someone is having another opinion, a miscommunication, not listening, wrong interpretation, misbehaviour, disobedience (when someone doesn’t want to listen to your instruction), failure, irritation etc.
It can occur between a husband and wife, parent and child, teacher and student, managers and employees, abangani, acquaintances, neighbors, believers, children, you name it. You might say, that loosing your patience and becoming upsad and angry, originates from selfishness.
How many people are having quarrels with someone? These quarrels started with a disagreement, or they felt offended and/or insulted.
But loosing your patience and angriness is a fruit of the flesh and not of the Spirit. It is the total opposite of longsuffering.
Who’s pushing your buttons?
Often times people say: “that person knows exactly how to push my buttons”. Kodwa iqiniso liwukuthi, that you have no buttons! Therefore if you have no buttons, no one can pushes them. When you say this, or when you feel offended, and live in unforgiveness, it only shows, lokho your flesh has not died yet. You are still carnal and are still being ruled by your flesh, instead that your spirit rules over your flesh.
You are the one, who is able to reign over your flesh. Your spirit can rule over your emotions and your feelings. It is up to you, who will be the greater authority in your life: your spirit or your flesh.
Lapho uhamba emva kukaMoya, then nothing can take you off guard. You will not be moved by anything, but will live in absolute peace.
The Lord is longsuffering
Look at God and look at Jesus, they are the perfect example of longsuffering. Longsuffering was and is one of Their characteristics. Yebo, our Father is longsuffering:
- The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation (Num 14:18)
- Kodwa wena, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth (IHubo 86:15)
- Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? (Rom 2:4)
- Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, leyo, eight souls were saved by water. (1 Pe 3:20)
- 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 (2 Pe 3:9)
We have been made into His image. His Holy Spirit lives in us, therefore if we walk after the Spirit we shall also bear fruit longsuffering.
What does longsuffering mean?
Longsuffering is translated from the Greek word makrothumia (G3115) kanye nezindlela: longanimity, leyo, (objectively) forbearance or (subjectively) fortitude: – longsuffering, patience.
According to the dictionaries, longsuffering means:
- Suffering for a long time without complaining : very patient during difficult times , patiently enduring lasting offense or hardship (Merriam Webster)
- Patiently enduring wrongs or difficulties. (The American Heritage Dictionary)
- Enduring pain, unhappiness, etc without complaint, long and patient endurance (Collins English dictionary)
There may be things happening in your life right now, which gives you a good reason to murmur and complain, or to be up sad, mad, angry etc. Maybe you’ve been mistreated or insulted by someone else, or maybe you’ve become seriously ill, or you’ve become disabled due to an accident, which wasn’t your fault.
But if you walk after the Spirit and bear the fruit of the Spirit, you will bear the fruit longsuffering. When you bear the fruit longsuffering, you won’t murmur and complain, you won’t feel up sad, mad angry. When you are longsuffering then nothing will affect you, but you will stay in perfect peace. Wen you bear the fruit longsuffering, than no one and nothing can make you mad or angry; no one can pushes your buttons. Because you have no buttons anymore; your flesh died.
The fruit longsuffering visible in the lives of the saints
Paul wrote often about the fruit longsuffering. He wrote about his walk as a servant of the Lord and how the saints should behave and walk:
- But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings; By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true; As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, futhi, bheka, we live; as chastened, and not killed; As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things (2 Co 6:4-10)
- But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, ukholo, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law (Gal 5:22-23)
- I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Efe 4:1-3)
- Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness (Kol 1:11)
- Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye (Kol 3:12-13)
- 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 (1 UThim 1:16)
- Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine (2 UThim 4:2)
What or who is your source in life?
When Jesus Christ is your Source, and when you live after the Spirit, you shall bear the fruit longsuffering. You shall have patience and will walk in the spiritual authority of Jesus Christ. You will have power and will rule over every carnal emotion and feeling, like self-pity, intukuthelo, inzondo, impatience etc.
But when your source is the flesh (usathane, Umhlaba) and you feed yourself with the things of the world, then you shall bear the fruit of angriness, inzondo, impatience etc. When the slightest thing happen in your life, irritation will arise, and shall lead to impatience, and outbreaks of anger, inzondo, aggressiveness etc.
It is therefore important, to draw from the right Source. Ngakho-ke, stay in Gods Word and develop your identity from the Word of God, instead of movies, television-series, omagazini, izincwadi, social media etc.
Put on the man
Remember that before you became born again, you lived like the world. You lived according to the lusts and desires of your flesh.
For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another (Tit 3:3)
Ngakho-ke, alikhumule ikhehla and its deeds and gqoka umuntu omusha, who is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him, that created him. Put on Jesus Christ.
When you stay in His word, futhi nihambe emva kukaMoya, you will not fulfil the lusts of your flesh. You will not bear the fruit of the flesh, but you will produce the fruit of the Spirit.
You may also like to read: the fruit of peace
‘Yibani usawoti womhlaba’
