A Closer Look
It’s been said that if you ask for patience, God will put you in a situation where you have to exercise it. If that’s true, what does Biblical patience look like?
Proverbs 19:11 puts it this way, “it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense.” We illustrate relational tension with temperature. And this indicates our mood: the heat of the moment.
For this reason when you’re dealt an accusation and offended, you’re better to defer your response until you have time to more fully consider the situation. In doing so, you’ll cool off. You’ll become more empathetic to the accuser, and you may even pass over the transgression altogether. The test of your character here is not so much the subject of the offense towards you, but is the way you respond to that offense.
Patience is the fruit of wisdom (Colossians 1:11), and the more you grow in wisdom the more inclined you are to defer your anger. While there is no way to eradicate the emotion that blares up when someone does or says something hurtful, there is a way to respond and not react.We grow in this wisdom not just when we spend time with Jesus, but when we let him lead us.