We have all seen impatient people. The man in line at check-out grumbles about the slowness of the cashier. A driver weaves in and out of the lanes to get to the next light faster, shaking her fist at the crawling car ahead.
At those moments, it is easy for us to think, “I’m glad I’m not like that person.” But, sometimes, we must admit we are those people. In our hurriedness and feeling of being slighted, we lash out and hurt others. What’s worse, we might think we are justified in our behavior.
I’m so grateful that God does not treat us that way. He is patient, loving, and merciful. Yes, He can be righteously angry, but He is never short-tempered or impatient.
Even with all the wickedness humans have done, He patiently deals with us, giving us all the opportunity to turn to Him in faith. Scripture has a special word for this attribute of God: Long-suffering.
Long-suffering and Modern Translations
In modern translations, the traditional word “longsuffering” is often rendered as patience (1 Peter 3:20). The original Greek word, “makrothumia,” does include patience but also has a wider meaning.
According to the NET Bible Greek definition, the word “makrothumia” carries the idea of patiently waiting, enduring, and exhibiting a “slowness in avenging wrongs.”
The term long-suffering encapsulates this idea of “suffering” or enduring the wrong and hurtful actions of others for a “long” period.
A long-suffering person is not short-tempered. Instead of being quick to avenge a wrong out of anger, they can control their anger and wait for God’s perfect judgment.
Since longsuffering is not often used in modern contexts, many people are not familiar with the term and prefer the rendering of “patience.” Thus, we typically find “long-suffering” in older translations, such as the KJV.
Now that we understand that the meaning of the Greek conveys a more complex meaning, we can look at reasons why the Bible uses the term longsuffering.
God’s Character
A significant reason Scripture uses long-suffering is to convey an attribute of God. In multiple passages, long-suffering is ascribed to the Lord.
In His loving mercy, He patiently endures the present time to give all people an opportunity to trust Him (2 Peter 3:15).
He will accomplish His plan and righteously punish wrongdoing, but He also expresses grace and mercy by giving people time to turn to Him, even though they may not respond to Him.
The Lord patiently deals with us because that is a part of His character. When Moses saw the Lord pass by, he heard God declare: “The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abounding in goodness and truth” (Exodus 34:6, NKJV).
Loving patience and merciful endurance are innate parts of who God is. We cannot separate His justice from His long-suffering.
One example among many in Scripture that shows us His long-suffering is the flood during the days of Noah.
The Apostle Peter described that God held off the judgment of the flood to give Noah enough time to build the ark and get all the animals inside (1 Peter 3:20; Genesis 6:11-12).
Noah preached to the people during these years, but they refused to repent of their wickedness (Hebrews 11:7; 2 Peter 2:5).
Another event in the Bible also demonstrates God’s patient endurance. On the cross, Jesus dealt with scorn and mockery (Matthew 27:39-41; Mark 15:29-30).
The people hurled insults at Him, but He did not retaliate or bring judgment on them, even though He is the powerful Son of God (Isaiah 53:7; 1 Peter 2:23).
Instead, He lovingly asked the Father to forgive His mockers (Luke 23:34). Furthermore, He died for all people on the cross, including those who mocked Him. Through this, Jesus showed us what it meant to love our enemies and what long-suffering looks like.
From the Greek word translated as long-suffering and the accounts of Scripture, we understand that God is merciful, and His patience has nothing to do with how people act or respond to Him.
He did not endure the wicked people of Noah’s time because of any goodness in them, but because of His great patience.
Also, Jesus has graciously given people today time to turn to Him in faith, even though we do not deserve His love and mercy. He deals with us patiently because of his character.
Long-suffering and the Christian Life
Another reason that the Bible uses the word long-suffering is that this is a trait that Christians should display in their life. Since God is long-suffering, His followers should show patience to others too.
As believers, we are being conformed to the image of Christ through the process of sanctification (Romans 8:29). The more we grow in our walk with Christ, the more we should reflect His attributes in our life (2 Corinthians 3:18).
Spiritual growth is ultimately the work of the Holy Spirit living inside us. He is the one who produces spiritual fruit in our lives.
According to Galatians 5:22, one of the fruits of the Spirit is patience (NLT) or long-suffering (NKJV). The Greek Word, “makrothumia,” used in this verse, is the same word for God’s long-suffering or patience found in 1 Peter 3:20 and the same root word in 2 Peter 3:15.
The Lord Jesus endured suffering at the hands of others and did not retaliate or respond with hate. Likewise, believers need to learn to exercise patience when others hurt, slight, or wrong them.
Jerry Bridges, in his book The Fruitful Life, describes this well when he lists a variety of opportunities for practicing patience, including “ridicule, scorn, insults, and undeserved rebukes, as well as outright persecution” (NavPress, 2006, p. 104).
Paul mentions this as well when he reminds us that love bears all things and endures all things (1 Corinthians 13:7). We are going to experience hurt from others, but we can patiently endure while showing love and forgiveness to those who hurt us instead of hate and bitterness.
In addition to being patient with those who hurt us, we can practice long-suffering by controlling our anger. The biblical definition of long-suffering or patience includes waiting for God to avenge (Romans 12:19).
Jesus entrusted Himself to the Father, “who judges justly” (1 Peter 2:23). We can learn from His example and ask the Spirit to help us control our anger, trusting that punishment and vengeance belong to God, not us.
Instead of allowing ourselves to become angry when people use stinging words or do something against us, we can exercise steadfast patience stemming from our hope in Christ (see 1 Thessalonians 1:3).
While thinking about how to apply this attribute in the Christian life, we need to remember that the Bible does not include longsuffering to make us into “doormats” to be used and walked over by others.
Longsuffering does not mean remaining in an abusive or toxic relationship. Neither does it mean that we should stay silent about oppression and injustice.
In fact, the Bible encourages us to speak up for the oppressed and defenseless (Psalm 82:3-4). There is a difference between patiently enduring wrongdoing from others to show love and allowing others to take advantage of us.
What Does This Mean?
Scripture uses “long-suffering” to describe God since He holds back His anger and is patient with us. Numerous accounts in the Bible, including Noah’s Flood and the crucifixion, shows us that God is long-suffering because of His character.
The Lord’s patient waiting gives more people the opportunity to place faith in Him and receive His grace.
In addition to conveying an attribute of God, the Bible also uses the word longsuffering because this characteristic is a part of the Christian life.
The Holy Spirit produces the fruit of patience or long-suffering in us, which reflects the Lord’s great patience when dealing with wrongs.
He can help us control our human tendency to strike out in anger when others hurt or irritate us. Thus, maybe the next time we are in a long check-out line or stuck behind a slower driver on the road, we can remember the biblical meaning of long-suffering.
For further reading:
Prayers for Patience and Understanding
How Can We Grow in Biblical Patience?
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