Patient Endurance – 1 Peter 2:20

For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.

Foreign indeed in our self-centered society is the concept of patiently enduring the sins of another against us.  To sue, discredit, undermine, rebut, and demand restitution seem more appropriate.  Even Christians, as evidenced by our responses to harsh treatment, especially when it is for doing what is right, apparently do not view such suffering as a blessed opportunity to find favor with God.  Never mind that the Lord breathes into us the capability to endure injustice and unkindness.[1]  Never mind Christ’s example as He stood silently before Pilate, refusing to strike back as false charges were hurled against Him.[2]  Typically, we want no part with this type of hardship.

However, before we dismiss patient endurance as unpalatable, we need to look at where it leads and at the manifold benefits it brings.  When exercised faithfully, it takes immature, selfish people and transforms them, giving them proven character and resulting in a hope that does not disappoint.[3]  When the Lord plants and nurtures it in honest hearts, in those who allow it to flourish, patient endurance yields eternal fruit through them.[4]  It creates steadfast spirits within those who receive it, so times of intense provocation will not shake them.[5]  It brings Christians into the full inheritance promised to them throughout the pages of Scripture, by the model set by our Lord and His apostles,[6] and it inclines the Lord’s ear to those who wait for Him to work on their behalf.[7]

Look at the great cloud of witnesses all around us.[8]  Remember God’s faithfulness to them, and be comforted that He will likewise care for you.  While we do not choose our opportunities to gain perfection in Christ, we do control how we respond to them.  Therefore, rather than feeling angry and victimized at your present tribulation and by the people who try your soul, praise God for the blessing He is offering you.  Accept these challenges without complaint and endure them with calmness and faith, while looking toward the precious reward the Lord offers you through them.  Live above tumult and dissension with an understanding that trusting all to Christ brings about a maturity and gentleness of spirit well worth owning.

Allow patient endurance to have its perfect result within you, and having thus found the key to a joyful, peaceful life, you will grow more like Christ.[9]

[1] Romans 15:5

[2] Matthew 27:12-14

[3] Romans 5:3-5

[4] Luke 8:15, Galatians 6:9

[5] 2 Thessalonians 3:5

[6] Hebrews 6:11-12

[7] Psalm 40:1

[8] Hebrews 11:40, 12:1

[9] Luke 6:40