Patience might be everyone's least favorite fruit of the Spirit. Unlike the three fruit that precede it in the Apostle Paul's list in Galatians, patience is something few of us really desire to have. It is a fruit developed through the pains of frustration, disappointment, regret, and even sorrow. But as Pastor Caleb explains, the fruit Paul describes bears little resemblance to what we often understand patience to be. Less a tolerance of difficult situations or people, we see in Scripture that patience is a fundamental aspect of God's character – an expression of his love for us, and a costly one at that. The God who loves us and saves us delights in seeing us grow as we learn to walk with Him. Though missteps along the way might frustrate us, they do not surprise God or set Him in a panic. When we truly see His patience for us, we start to look at our days differently, and we find that the greatest value of any moment is spending it in the company of God. For us, patience becomes trusting that no part of our life is ever wasted in God's hands and expressing that trust, meeting others as Christ meets us.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Psalm 103⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (NRSV)⁠⁠⁠

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