Come Holy Spirit Series: Week 5 Part B Fruit of Patience.

 Come Holy Spirit Series.

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Come Holy Spirit – Week 5: The Fruit of the Spirit – Patience

“But the fruit of the Spirit is… patience…” – Galatians 5:22

Last week we explored peace as a fruit of the Spirit. This week, we shift to a fruit that often stretches us the most: patience. It's the quiet strength that helps us endure with grace, wait with trust, and love without rushing.

 

What is Patience?

Patience is more than simply waiting. It’s the ability to remain calm and faithful in the face of delay, suffering, or difficulty. It’s a peaceful endurance that holds steady when things don’t go according to our timeline. In the Latin tradition, the word patientia is related to pati – to suffer or endure.

Patience is a quiet fruit, but a strong one. It gives us the inner strength to pause rather than react, to forgive repeatedly, and to trust that God's timing is perfect—even when it doesn’t feel like it.

 

Scripture Reflection

• “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you…” – 2 Peter 3:9
• “Love is patient, love is kind…” – 1 Corinthians 13:4
• “Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord.” – James 5:7

These verses remind us that God is patient with us. When we live in the Spirit, we begin to reflect that same patience in our relationships with others—and with ourselves.

 

How Patience Connects with the Gifts of the Spirit

Patience is strengthened by the gifts of fortitude, wisdom, and understanding. Fortitude gives us the strength to endure trials. Wisdom reminds us to look at time and suffering through God's eyes. Understanding helps us accept what we cannot change with humility and trust.

 

Practicing Patience in Daily Life

Here are some ways to cultivate patience:

• Pause and Breathe: When you feel frustration rising, take a moment to breathe. Let the Spirit create space between impulse and response. Eg When we are in traffic and we need to wait to turn right, we can turn our heart to God and offer a prayer of blessing for all those who pass us on the road. This Pausing and breathing whilst offering a prayer for other road users helps us to become more patient as we wait our turn to turn right. 
• Surrender Control: Practice saying, “Not my timing, Lord, but Yours.”
• Extend Grace: Be patient with those who test you. Choose compassion instead of irritation.
• Be Gentle with Yourself: We all need patience with our own failings and limitations. Let the Spirit remind you that we are a work in progress.
• Wait in Hope: When we are waiting—for healing, for answers, for change—turn our waiting into prayer and hope, not worry or despair.

 

Opportunity to Journal:

• In what situations do I find it easiest to be patient? Do I thank God for this fruit?
• Where do I struggle with impatience most—people, circumstances, or myself?
• How might the Holy Spirit be inviting me to grow in patience right now?
• Can I see how patience is already bearing fruit in my life?
• Which gift of the Spirit helps me most when I need patience?

 

A Closing Thought:

Patience may not feel exciting, but it is deeply holy. In a world that rushes and demands instant everything, patience is a powerful witness. It tells the world that we trust in God's timing, not our own. It is  not passive—it is hopeful, faithful endurance.

Come, Holy Spirit, grow in me the fruit of patience. 

Teach me to wait with trust, to bear trials with peace, 

and to walk with quiet strength through all seasons of life. Amen.