Galatians 5:16-24

¹⁶ So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. ¹⁷ For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever^[a]you want. ¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. ¹⁹ The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;²⁰ idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹ and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. ²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.²⁴ Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

It’s here in Galatians 5 that we come to the fourth fruit, that of patience. Patience is not just something we are called to possess but something we are called to put it into practice. A truck driver sat down to eat at an all-night restaurant. The waitress had just served him his meal when three guys riding Harley’s showed up and swaggered into the diner. One grabbed the man’s hamburger; another took a fistful of his French Fries; and the third picked up his coffee and began to drink it. The trucker responded with great patience. He calmly got up from the table, picked up his check, walked to the front of the restaurant, put his money on the cash register, and headed out the door. The waitress watched as the big truck drove off into the night. When she returned, one of the bikers said to her, “He wasn’t much of a man, was he?” To which she replied, “He’s not much of a truck driver either. He just ran over three motorcycles out in the parking lot.” As we look at cultivating the Christ like character of patience we need to recognize that this is the fruit we are most likely to try and pass on. One of the reasons we dislike this fruit has to do with the greenhouse in which it is best grown. Patience is best developed through difficulties. Contrary to what we want patience is cultivated in the challenges not in the coddling. While we may want to grow in the good times the truth is that most growth occurs in the groaning times. We all struggle with practicing patience in fact for many of us our impatience seems to be insatiable. I’m wired for action and its easy for me to get frustrated with how slow things move at times. But as I take the time to look at my heart and do a personal inventory of my life, I have come to realize that a large portion of my sins are linked to my lack of patience. While I might not drive over motorcycles, (which as a biker I see as the unforgivable sin just kidding), sometimes I actually do much worse, I drive over people. The road of impatience is not just paved with problems and pain, but it almost always leads to spiritual disaster. So why is it so difficult to be a patient person? Why is it that the only people that seem to have lots of patience are doctors!! Well there are at least 2 reasons why patience is so rare today.

• It goes against human nature.

From the moment we’re born we want things taken care of right away. When a baby wakes up in the middle of the night and is hungry, it doesn’t lie there and think, “I know mom and dad are tired, so I’ll just wait until breakfast time.” No, the baby cries impatiently until it receives the attention it demands. Many of us have never grown up, and so we are still acting like babies demanding that everything be about us and now. The second reason why patience is so rare today is that:

• It’s contrary to our culture.

Those of you who have had the privilege of traveling to other countries recognize that in the western world people are wound pretty tight. That reminds me of the man whose car had stalled in heavy traffic just as the light turned green. As he frantically tried to get his car started, he was greeted by a chorus of honking horns and angry faces. He finally got out of his car, walked back to the driver behind him and said, “I’m sorry but I can’t seem to get my car started. If you’ll go up there and give it a try, I’ll stay here and honk the horn for you.” We live in a fast food instant gratification world, were we expect to get what we want, how we want and when we want it.

Last time as we looked at the fruit of peace we saw that we cannot fully experience this Christian character trait until we have peace with God which leads to the peace of God, allowing us to have peace with people. Now these fruits are all connected with each other. Only one who demonstrates peace can truly display patience, just as patience is a necessary prerequisite for establishing peace. Unfortunately, many of us pray “Dear God, please grant me patience, and I want it right now.” Galatians 5:22 makes it clear that patience is a fruit of the Spirit which is a surprise to some because we tend to think of patience as a personality trait. When we do we may be tempted to believe that some personality types are more prone to patience than others. And usually we have determined that we are not one of them! But we need to remember that patience is a product of the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. He alone is the source and supplier of patience because He is the God of all patience. Only as we are filled with the Spirit and stay connected to the vine will we be able to know and experience His patience. Just as we can’t manufacture love, joy or peace on our own, we certainly can’t pretend to have patience when we don’t. Patience is not the result of self-control but the Spirits control. So, what is patience, the KJV calls it long-suffering. Patience is the Christ-like character that does not surrender to circumstances or succumb to challenges. It is that quality of self-restraint in the face of being provoked. Patience is a calm endurance based on the certainty that God is in control. So, what about you, do you possess patience and are you putting it into practice with the people and problems you face? Or are you just maintaining a calm exterior while inside you are seething with frustration that fuels your desire to seek revenge? We are called to practice patience not be passive aggressive.

Philippians 4:1-9

“Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stay true to the Lord. I love you and long to see you, dear friends, for you are my joy and the crown I receive for my work. ² Now I appeal to Euodia and Syntyche. Please, because you belong to the Lord, settle your disagreement. ³ And I ask you, my true partner, to help these two women, for they worked hard with me in telling others the Good News. They worked along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are written in the Book of Life. ⁴ Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! ⁵ Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon^{] 6} Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. ⁷ Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. ⁸ And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. ⁹ Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.”

After reminding us of our position in Christ, the importance of praise, being polite and maintaining a proper perspective now Paul points to the fifth prescription for peace:

5. Prayer

Paul tells us in verse six “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need” God’s Word reminds us to turn to prayer not to panic. Are you putting your energy into praying or panicking?  Instead of being drained by distress and experience mental and emotional turmoil we need to take our problems to the Lord in prayer. So, are you giving priority to your problems or packaging them prayer? Don’t be bashful about bringing your problems to the Lord; if it brings concern to you then it is a matter of concern to Him. Once we have prayed and made our requests known we need to wait patiently for God’s answer. He always answers prayer and His answer will be the product of His love, His compassion and His wisdom. He will answer by giving us whatever is best for, it is knowing this that is the basis for our peace of mind. Peace is not found in the provision but in the provider. Often our problem with prayer is that we are focused on the answer more than the Almighty.  When we take a matter to the Lord, we must leave it with Him. 1 Peter 5 tells us to cast all our cares on Him, when we do our cares are in His court and we wait for Him to make the next move. Pray is really a transfer of trust, where we stop holding on and hand it over to God. Do you believe that He is bigger than your battles, more powerful than your problems? This is not only trusting in God’s ability but also His timing. Do you want peace, then stop panicking over the problems and start praying? Where do you need to transfer trust from self to the Savior? Worry leads to panic, prayer leads to power. Are you going to waste your life on worry or invest your life in worship? Worry is problem focused, worship is power focused. The sixth prescription for peace is:

6. Ponder what is Pure – Vs 8

In verse 8 Paul says, “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” This is not a suggestion but a command, because our natural tendency is to dwell on the negative instead of focusing on the positive. Pondering the positive is probably one of the least preached and least practiced aspects of the Christian faith.  How often do we fail to focus on the positive, and instead allow our minds to dwell on the negatives? Many of us are masters at seeing our glass as half empty rather than half full. Yet as believers we should be able to see a silver lining in even the darkest cloud. When we remember that God is with us, for us and working in our lives, we should be the most optimistic and positive people on the planet. Paul reminds us to place our focus on what is true instead of the lies, noble instead of what is unjust, right instead of wrong, lovely instead of the horrible, admirable instead of the bad, pure instead of the counterfeits and fakes, and praiseworthy instead of the problems. When we place our focus on these things they will penetrate our problems, influencing and impacting our perspective and provide real peace. Lastly Paul reminds us to:

7. Practice Obedience – Vs 9

The last key to experiencing and enjoying peace of mind is striving to obey the teachings of Christ. Paul says, in verse 9, “Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.” Obedience leads to peace because one, if we obey God’s Word, we will avoid many of the pitfalls in life that lead to unnecessary heartaches and headaches. Psalms 119:165 reminds us of this truth: “Those who love Thy law have great peace, and nothing causes them to stumble.” Second there is a peace that comes when you know in your heart and mind that you are doing all that you can to please God. Paul reminds us in Acts 24:16: “I also do my best to maintain always a blameless conscience both before God and before men.” With obedience comes a clear and clean conscience which promotes peace of mind. Lastly, Christ’s teachings call us to take up our cross deny ourselves and follow Him. We are called to look beyond self and serve others. The more I take my focus off of me, my predicaments and problems, and place them on others and how I can make their lives lighter the more my life is liberated. Paul calls us not just to listen to the preaching but to put it into practice. So, in what ways do you need to “Bear others burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2. What is dominating your thoughts, is it thankfulness, are you pondering the praiseworthy and the pure or are you pouring over the negative? Are you being obedient to the One who called you to live and walk in peace even in the problems? As we close this call to cultivate the character of peace I want you to answer the following three questions:

• Are you at peace with God – Saving peace
• Do you have the peace of God – Securing peace. Are you living in His peace or the panic?
• Are you living in peace with others? Serving peace. Are you passing the baton of peace on to others or is there someone that you are not at peace with?