Presented by Lauren Stibgen

For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).

You have likely heard this verse many times, but what does John 3:16 have to do with patience? When I think about my own salvation, I would say God was patient! In fact, he waited 30 years for me to realize Jesus was my savior! Patience first comes to us from God himself, reflected in the love he has for us at the cross. In our worldview, this seems slow, but not in God’s standard.

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).

God is just on time—his time. Let’s consider love again, but in the context of the greatest commandment.

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-39).

Now, how is love described? 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 leads with love is patient and kind. Love is patient! Who should we have patience with?

First, we need to have patience with God! We will explore this more, but this looks like trusting him when we are in the valleys of life and when we feel like our prayers are going unanswered. It looks like endurance during trials and perseverance when we just want something to happen already!

Next, we need to have patience with our neighbors, which is basically everyone! Our neighbors are our bosses, colleagues, and subordinates. They are vendor partners and partners within the communities our businesses are part of. It is even the community you are building on a social platform like LinkedIn or members of a business association related to your profession. You have a lot of neighbors to love! Rather, you have a lot of neighbors with whom to be patient!