Fruitful Living
The fruit of patience “But the fruit of the Spirit is Patience.” – Galatians 5:22
INTRODUCTION
Patience is a virtue, one that is essential for healthy living. Its vital role in every human relationship has made it a subject of intense scrutiny by all kinds of professionals. Yet, in spite of all the extra attention, PATIENCE remains a very scarce commodity in our fast-paced world.
1. PATIENCE BRINGS THE BLESSING OF GOD
The writer of Hebrews 11:39-40 says, ‘These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.’ Their patience and perseverance ended in more waiting. What is the plan that God has prepared for us? What is the ‘something better’? Who can say for sure? His purpose will not be entirely consummated until Jesus splits the skies and history is finished. And then we will know the end of all truth.
God never lies; all that He has promised will come to be after we have waited long enough. Patience will at last expose us to glory immeasurable, for patience is the key to the final blessing of God.
2. PATIENCE, LIVING BY GOD’S TIMETABLE
Prayers are voiced from the perspective of our timeframe, but they are all answered from God’s timetable. In 1 Samuel 1:9-28, Hannah knew this great truth of prayer, the length of time between our asking and God’s supply is patience. Hannah received exactly what she had asked for. But the key to her blessing lay in her steadfastness.
Jesus is a wonderful model of patience. He had only a few years to minister on this earth, yet He never worried that He would not have time to accomplish all that God had planned for Him. He trusted God’s perfect timetable.
3. PATIENCE, THE ART OF WAITING ON GOD
But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 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 3:8-9
There is an art required in patience – aligning our finite watches with God’s external clock. We do not have unlimited time to accomplish His plan for our lives. Therefore we must, as the psalmist suggests, ‘number our days aright’ – Psalm 90:12. First, we must pace ourselves so that we do not live frantically, and then we must schedule the appointments of our lives so that every earthly moment yields some heavenly product.
Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. – 1 Corinthians 1:4-9
God has called us to wait. So we practise patience. But God has given us gifts to equip us to fulfill His purposes as we wait. Through His graciousness, we learn patience, and through our exercise of that patience, we fulfill His purposes.
4. PATIENCE AND MY RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST.
Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth. – Revelation 3:10.
Christ reminds the church of Philadelphia that patient endurance under trial is the key to God’s special protection. Those who endure hurt with patience are behaving like Christ Jesus. He notices our pain, and walks with us through every step of the suffering. Just as God the Father felt every pain of His Son, so our Saviour feels our hurt and suffers with us every step of the way.
Indeed, the Psalmist in Psalm 39:5 is right: ‘You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man’s life is but a breath’. During these fast-tumbling years, let us practise a determined patience and decide that these years will all be used for Christ. If we focus on using our time to develop our relationship with Him, we will never look at the time as wasted, for we will someday have eternity to reap the benefits of our time with Him now. A great hymn by Charles Thomas Studd sums up the attitude of a life filled with patience: ‘Only one life, twill soon be past; only what’s done for Christ will last.’
5. PATIENCE THE SLOWLY ACQUIRED VIRTUE
God’s historical motif in Nehemiah 9:30 is patience. He was patient with the Israelites when: they became arrogant, disobeyed His commandments, sinned against His ordinances, turned their back on God’s desires for them and became stiff-necked and refused to listen. Through all of their disobedience, the patience of God waited on Israel to return His love and behave like His children.
Patience is not a flaw in God; it is the glory of God. If God can extend His all-important, worldwide agenda by pacing Himself so as to save all, perhaps the practice of patience would do us all good.
6. PATIENCE, THE UNHURRIED VIRTUE
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. – Matthew 18:21-22
Peter felt magnanimous in suggesting seven-fold forgiveness as a worldwide standard. But Jesus reminded him that a better standard would be 77 times. The idea is that when we get to 43 times, we will probably quit counting. We may then become more like God in our willingness to forgive freely without credits and debits, without a calculator.
Patience is an unhurried virtue, it waits and forgives and waits and forgives. Patience is the virtue that demonstrates that we are fully in touch and at ease with the purposes of God in our lives.
7. PATIENCE, THE WAIT FOR WHAT GOD PROMISES
Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.” – Luke 2:25-32.
Simeon sings, ‘My eyes have seen your salvation.’ In this statement is the realised product of patience. God has many things to show us when the time is right. Until then, the wait itself is wonderful.
CONCLUSION
It is only through the work of the Holy Spirit on the heart that we can bear the fruit of patience. The hymn below by Thomas Gibbons summarizes patience for us in a profound way:
- Patience, O, ‘tis a grace divine, set from the God of peace and love,
That leans upon our Father’s arm, as through the wilds of life we rove.
- By patience, we serenely bear, the troubles of our mortal state,
And wait, contented, our discharge, nor think our glory comes too late.
- O, for this grace to aid us on, and arm with fortitude the breast,
Till, life’s tumultuous voyage o’er, we reach the shores of endless rest.
- Faith into vision shall resign, hope shall in full fruition die,
And patience in possession end, in the bright worlds of bliss on high
Culled from: Fruit of the Spirit Bible.
Stay blessed!
By Dr Joyce Aryee, the author
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Website: saltandlightministriesgh.org
Fruitful Living
Hijab (Islamic veil) as an act of worship (Part 2)
Consequences on lack of knowledge about Hijab can cause Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD)
Lack of knowledge about the use of Hijab and its role in promoting modesty can contribute significantly to immoral behaviour in societies, which in turn increases the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).
In Islamic teachings, the Hijab is not only a piece of clothing but a broader concept of modesty, dignity and moral conduct.
When society underestimates the value of modesty in behaviour, dress and interactions, it can lead to permissiveness in relationships, unsafe sexual practice, and other behaviours that increase the risk of STDs.
Peer Pressure and Western Influence in Urban Areas
In Urban centres like Accra and Kumasi, younger generations are often influenced by Western media and fashion trends that promote revealing clothing and casual attitudes towards relationships.
This cultural shift, coupled with inadequate education about Islamic principles like the hijab’s role in promoting modesty, can lead to high incidence of promiscuity.
For instance, young women and men engaging in risky sexual behaviour without understanding the consequences often do so under the influence of societal trends. This increase exposure to sexually transmitted diseases like HIV/AIDS, which remains a public health issue in Ghana.
Misinterpretation of Freedom and Modernity
In higher educational institutions, some students perceive wearing the hijab as outdated or limiting their freedom. This lack of knowledge about the hijab’s significance can lead to adopting lifestyles that prioritize fashion over modesty.
For example, a university student might choose to attend social gatherings where alcohol and casual sexual encounters are common, driven by peer pressure and a desire to fit in.
Without the grounding principles of modesty and chastity, the chances of unprotected and reckless sexual activity rise, contributing to the spread of diseases like gonorrhea or syphilis.
Both scenarios highlight how a lack of knowledge about the hijab’s deeper values can lead to behaviors that put individuals and society at risk.
While the hijab alone does not guarantee moral behavior, its principles, when understood and embraced, can foster a culture of self-respect and responsibility that mitigates the spread of STDs.
Education on these values, coupled with awareness of sexual health, is critical for addressing this challenge in society. Casual relationships contribute to the spread of STDs, which harm both individuals and communities.
Fundamental Human Rights: Religious Freedom
Ghana, like many democratic nations, guarantees the right to freedom of religion. Article 21(1) ( c ) of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana explicitly states: “All persons shall have the right to freedom to practice any religion and to manifest such practice.”
This provision protects every citizen’s right to practice their religion, including the wearing of Hijab, without discrimination or intimidation.
Similarly, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) 1948, Article 18, asserts:
“Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance.”
These legal provisions recognise Hijab as part of the manifestation of Islam and affirm that Muslim women have the right to wear Hijab in public institutions
By Imam Alhaji Saeed Abdulai, the Author
Fruitful Living
Christ Our Lord (Final part)
This sin gave Satan the firm foothold he had been looking for. Sin and Satan now held the world in a vice-like grip. God’s people now walked in darkness: oppressed by Satan. Spiritually speaking, they lived in a never-ending winter: rarely experiencing the warmth of God’s love.
Enslaved by sin as they were, they were doomed to die both physically and spiritually. ‘(Adam’s) sin brought death with it. As a result, death has spread to the whole human race because everyone has sinned.’ – Romans 5:12
Who could rescue God’s creation from the curse of Satan, the enemy? Mankind’s rescuer would need to be someone strong enough to engage in battle against the power of Satan; someone who would fight compromise with evil, for evil cannot combat evil; only goodness can do that.
There was only one person who could even attempt the rescue bid: God Himself. So God entered the world in the form of the perfect man: Jesus Christ. ‘God in Christ was reconciling the world to Himself.’ – 2 Corinthians 5:19
Jesus knew the solution to the sin-problem. He, the man-who-never-sinned, would need to take upon Himself every sin each individual in the world had ever committed and would ever commit. It would be as though He Himself had committed the crimes of the cosmos. He would, therefore, pay the penalty in person. He would die: ‘Without beauty, without majesty (we saw him), no looks to attract our eyes; a thing despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering, a man to make people screen their faces He was despised and we took no account of Him.
And yet ours were the sufferings He bore, ours the sorrows He carried. But we, we thought of Him as someone punished, struck by God, and brought low. Yet He was pierced through for our faults, crushed for our sins. On Him lies a punishment that brings us peace, and through His wounds we are healed. We had all gone astray like sheep, each taking his own way, and Yahweh burdened Him with the sins of all of us.’ – Isaiah 53:2-6
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, help me to drink in these facts:
Mine were the sufferings you bore
Mine the sorrows you carried
You were pierced through for my faults
Crushed because of my sin
God laid on you the punishment that brought me
Peace
Joy
And a whole new start in life
Help me to say an adequate
Thank you.
RANSOMED
A man was once caught stealing from his employers. When the court case was heard, the judge imposed a fine of GH¢50. Failure to pay the prescribed fine, he said, would result in imprisonment. The night of the court hearing, the man despaired. He had no money. That was why he had resorted to stealing in the first place. How was he to pay the fine? The thought of a period in prison filled him with horror. Next morning, a brown envelope fell through this man’s letter-box. It contained ten, crisp, new GH¢5 notes and a hand-written explanation: To pay off the debt. The offender never discovered where the money had come from. The only information he could glean was that a member of the nearby church heard of his plight and decided to set him free from the threat of imprisonment.
When Jesus died on the cruel cross, He brought our release from the clutches of the evil one. He also set us free from the bondage to sin in which we had been trapped. And He delivered us from the effects of the sin-stained past and from the guilt that enshrouded us: The death of Christ ‘One act of perfect righteousness, presents all men freely acquitted in the sight of God.’ – Romans 5:18. ‘God loved the world so much that He gave his only Son, that everyone who has faith in Him may not die but have eternal life.’ – John 3:16
This article has been heavily inspired by Joyce Hugget in “Approaching Easter, Meditations for Lent.”
By Rev. Dr Joyce Aryee, the author
