How to Have a Long-suffering Heart

As our human longsuffering is limited, what should we do to have a long-suffering heart?

Be Born Again: We can never produce the fruit of the Holy Spirit by ourselves. We must be born again by the Holy Spirit and God’s Word (John 3:5; 1 Peter 1:23) and then humbly submit ourselves to the Lord and His Word so that the Holy Spirit may produce His fruit of love, joy, peace and longsuffering in our hearts.

Grow in God’s Grace and Knowledge (2 Peter 3:18): The more we know our God and His love, His grace, His mercy, His goodness and His longsuffering toward us, the more we may be constrained by His love to bear with others and forgive them. It is good for you and me to remember that we have owed our Lord so much, an unpayable debt, and that we have been forgiven and saved by His grace and mercy alone, or else we only deserve to be condemned to Hell of fire for ever due to our sins, transgressions, unrighteousness and iniquities.

Have Been Purchased to Follow the Lord: God has redeemed or bought us with His great price, with the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, so we are not our own but the Lord’s (Acts 20:28; 1 Cor 6:19-20; 1 Peter 1:18-19). It is good to remember that our lives, our time, our bodies, our names, etc. belong to the Lord and even our “self” has been crucified with the Lord (Gal 2:20) so that we may not be upset or angry when others may offend us or damage our reputation. We just follow our Lord Jesus Christ, “because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously” (1 Peter 2:20-23).

Rely on the Lord and Pray to Him (John 15:5; Col 1:9-11): God expects you and me to have “faith and patience (makrothumía)” to “inherit the promises” (Heb 6:12) like Abraham, who had patiently waited for 25 years until God gave him Isaac. God even commands us to “Be patient (makrothumía) therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord” (James 5:7). Acknowledging our limited longsuffering, we should rely on our Lord for His glorious power to persevere (hupomone) in all things and bear with (makrothumía) all men, “be patient (makrothumía) toward all men” (1 Thess 5:14), even in preaching God’s Word (2 Tim 4:2) and in suffering injustice and unfairness, trusting in our God’s sovereignty and cry unto Him for help and justice, “And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them (makrothumía)?” (Luke 18:7).