I Need To Be Patient With Me

Let’s admit it. As growing and, at times, struggling Christians, we sometimes become impatient with ourselves. Personally, I think that I should be further along the road of spiritual maturity than I am. Indeed, I grow impatient with me. How about you? Do you get impatient with you? Fortunately, our God is much more patient with us than we are to ourselves.

We may feel like giving up on ourselves, but God does not give up on His children. He does not give up on any of us! We should take heart in this because our God will finish what He has started in us and for us. God is faithful, and He will do it. He is the author and finisher of our faith. What He commences, He completes. Paul assures us, “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6).

We are all in the process of being changed. None of us is there yet. That is why we should be patient with each other. But when God looks at you and me, He sees not what we are now, but what we will be when He is finished with us. That is the power of an artist. They can look at an empty canvas and see a picture. An architect can look at a piece of property and see a building. The great Michelangelo was asked once how he could take a block of marble and create an angel. He scoffed and said, “I just cut away everything that doesn’t look like an angel.” That is what God is doing in us. He is cutting away everything that does not look like Jesus. Of course, this is a lifetime process.

So what is our part? We must cooperate with God. We must make ourselves available to Him. If you have a tumor, you cannot remove it yourself, but you can make yourself available to a surgeon and allow him to remove it. You would never say, “I’m sick and I want you to fix me, but don’t touch my body.” No, you would give the surgeon full access.

That is why we must fully surrender our lives to God daily. We might say, Heavenly Father, I give you access to every part of my life. Change me. Mold me. Make me more like Jesus. This would be a great prayer for us all!

So when it comes to spiritual growth, let us be patient with ourselves and with others. Remember these letters shared with me years ago: PBPWMGINTWMY, which means Please Be Patient With Me God Is Not Through With Me Yet!

Devotedly Yours,
Pastor Ron