The Fruit of the Spirit: Patience

By Robb Brunansky

Published June 2, 2025

We all love to experience patience from others, but patience can be so difficult to show. Patience is also widely misunderstood. Although people commonly say, “Patience is a virtue,” their idea of patience is shallow and superficial. It usually indicates merely an ability to wait.

Moreover, we know that even this superficial patience is in short supply. Everything in our culture is moving towards instantaneous gratification, militating against any semblance of patience. Patience is not natural; it comes to us by the Spirit. To experience this attribute of the fruit of the Spirit, we must know what patience is.

Here is a definition we can use: Patience is the expression of a heartfelt trust in God’s sovereign plan produced by the Spirit in all believers. Or, to put it another way, patience is the manifestation of faith in times of difficulty. We need to walk through four aspects of patience to understand how to grow in this biblical virtue.

The first is the foundation of patience.

If patience is heartfelt trust in God’s sovereign plan, we should have some understanding of the Lord and His plan to be marked by patience. God Himself is marked by patience. When Moses wanted to know God’s inner-character – His true glory – the Lord proclaimed His patience with sinners as one of His perfections (Exodus 32-34). The Lord does not immediately judge most people who refuse to acknowledge their sins (Romans 2:4). He is patient. He waits, and He gives time to repent. God isn’t slow about fulfilling His promise to come in glory (2 Peter 3:9-10). He continues to let history roll on so people might repent. However, this patience will end at some point, as will the opportunity for repentance.

To be patient is to reflect the Lord’s nature and character. The foundation of patience is to understand God Himself is patient. Yet, where does His patience come from, and why is He patient?

This question brings us to the idea of God’s plan. The Lord is sovereign, and He is working out His plan with a specific goal and purpose. This concept is all over Scripture, but it is stated clearly and concisely in a couple places. The Lord will accomplish everything He wants to do, and He planned the end before the beginning (Isaiah 46:10-11). Whatever happens works to fulfill God’s ultimate purpose (Ephesians 1:11-12). God has a plan, and His plan is on schedule.

Sometimes it’s easy to wonder, “God, how long are You going to put up with this?” Even the Psalmist asked that question sometimes. We have that question because we have a limited perspective of chaos, sin, rebellion, and suffering. However, God has a different perspective, and He is patient in working out His plan.

The second is the learning of patience.

The illustration of Abraham makes this point. This narrative in Genesis is, among other things, one extended lesson in patience.

Abraham is told to go to the land God will show Him, and the Lord will bless him there (Genesis 12). Years passed, and God promises Abraham a great reward, assuring him the plan is still on schedule (Genesis 15). God later promises Isaac’s birth (Genesis 17:18). Finally, Isaac is born (Genesis 21). Think about how many times Abraham failed to trust the Lord over the years, lying about his wife and having a baby with Hagar. Yet God accomplished His plan.

The narrative shows us Abraham finally learned patience (Genesis 22). He was commanded to sacrifice his son, and he responds in dutiful obedience to the Lord. The man who formerly didn’t believe and wanted what he could see with Ishmael, trusted God’s plan and patiently took the child of promise up the mountain to sacrifice him. How could Abraham do this? He came to trust God’s plan (Hebrews 11:17-19). He realized God’s plans don’t work like our plans. No matter the external circumstances, the Lord is working out His plan, which will not be thwarted. Abraham finally learned the lesson of patience.

Patience is almost always learned through difficulty. We learn patience as we learn to trust God’s plan and purposes. Like other aspects of the Spirit’s fruit, our patience is not static – some days it is harder to trust the Lord, and some days it is easier. Patience is learned, though, as we learn that God is sovereign, that He has a plan, and that we can trust Him to fulfill it.

The third is the practice of patience.

What does it look like when we express this heartfelt trust in God’s sovereign plan? The first aspect of this practice is forgiveness, which is the supreme mark of patience. Patient people are forgiving people. God’s patience toward us, with His forgiveness of our sins, should lead to us being patient with others, forgiving them (Matthew 18:21-35). The fruit of the Spirit is patience, which expresses itself in forgiving others, overlooking offenses, not lashing out, and treating others with the long-suffering with which God has treated us.

The second aspect of this practice is waiting on the Lord amid difficulty. It is likely David reflected on dangers he faced running from Saul when he wrote, “I waited patiently for the Lord, and He inclined to me and heard my cry” (Psalm 40:1). Patience, then, allows us to endure difficulties without losing our trust in the Lord, because we know He has a plan. The Old Testament prophets are another set of examples (James 5:10-11). These men demonstrate that suffering and patience often go together. James mentions the outcomes of the Lord’s dealings. God is full of compassion and merciful. Those who patiently endure will be blessed.

The key is trusting God’s sovereign plan. If we doubt the Lord’s plan, we will struggle mightily with patience. We will demand God to do something to prove Himself. On the other hand, if we sincerely believe the Lord is working out a good and glorious plan, patience will be the fruit that grows in us – watered by the hope that God is faithful.

The final perspective is the profit of patience.

There are several benefits of patience, which are covered in the book of Proverbs. Here are three of those benefits.

The first is wisdom (Proverbs 14:29). As we learn to trust God’s plan and express that trust in enduring difficulty and forgiving others, we will gain great understanding and be a person marked by wisdom.

The second is power (Proverbs 16:32). The person who has patience, who can control his temper, who can forgive others, is more powerful than the mightiest warrior. It takes the power of the Spirit to have enough strength to rule our hearts.

The third is glory (Proverbs 19:11). Those who are patient, forgive; they control their temper, and they aren’t short-fused. Such people have an honorable quality about them. Their patience is their glory.

Patience is the expression of a heartfelt trust in God’s sovereign plan produced by the Spirit in all believers. Patience is manifest as we wait on the Lord in hope. Sometimes we see the reason we had to exercise patience, as Abraham learned with Isaac. Other times, though, the fruit of our patience is only received at the resurrection, as Jesus experienced, dying, but seeing the glorious result of His patience when He was raised from the dead, conquering sin and death for His people.

The key to patience is faith. The Spirit produces patience in our lives as we trust God’s sovereign plan. We know the goal of His plan: “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28) The Lord’s purpose is our good. May we learn to wait on Him with patience.