A few months ago, a woman in my ward gave a talk on patience that I found enlightening. I have been meaning to post a summary ever since.
Patience is demonstrated by how we act toward others, oneself, and God:
Patience with others: Patience with others manifests as love or charity. We await their repentance, assist throughout trials, and walk the “extra mile.”
Patience with oneself: When we recognize our weakness and our seeming inability to change, we show patience with ourselves by maintaining hope. Moroni said that we can “hope for a better world”; patience despite our weakness reveals a hope that we will one day prevail.
Patience with God: Through times of trial we may doubt God’s promises or morality. By being patient, we show that we have faith in him—in his power to deliver, his integrity, and his wisdom.
So there you have it: the three enduring gifts of the Spirit spoken of by Paul—faith, hope, charity—each expressed through patience.
06 September 2006
Three-fold Expression of Patience
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2 comments:
That is enlightening. Thanks for passing it along. I especially liked the patience with ourselves part.
Very interesting perspective on faith, hope and charity. This is a topic Joe Spencer has been thinking a lot about at the Feast wiki in relation to 2 Ne 31:20 (see also the discussion page). I think it's helpful to think of the faith, hope, and charity ordering (which I think 2 Ne 31:20 also makes significant): first we have patience with God (faith) which helps us obtain a hope in our future salvation (patience with ourselves) which in turn fills us with gratitude/love toward God which allows us to love others....
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