Here are some questions based on last Sunday’s sermon text (Galatians 5:22-23), in case they’re helpful to you for personal growth or group discussion…

• Read Psalms 123 and 130. Christian patience is not just delayed gratification with calmness. We are not just waiting for something, we are waiting for someone—we wait upon the Lord with eager anticipation. Are you patient in this sense? For what/whom are you waiting? What is your hope for the future? Is it related to circumstances, family, work, vacation, or…? Do you believe that Jesus’ future is also your future, by God’s grace? Do you find it difficult to keep your spiritual “eyes” fixed on Jesus while you wait for God to fulfill his promises? What things would tempt you to take your eyes off of Jesus? Do you believe that, in the Spirit, you have Christ’s own resources for patiently enduring all things in this life? How can you abide in Christ (John 15) in such a way that the Spirit grows the Fruit of his patience in you?

• Patience is a facet of love, a feature of our relationship with God through faith in Jesus. Jesus suffered people like us with patience in order to love us. God has been patient with us. Are you aware of your need for God’s patience with you? How has God been patient with you? How do you need God’s patience right now? Are there ways in which you take God’s patience for granted, or ways in which you are testing God’s patience deliberately? Have you given thanks to God and praised him for his patience?

• Are you willing to be patient with your brothers and sisters in the church as Christ has been patient with you? Are you willing even to “patiently endure evil” (2 Timothy 2:24)? What are some specific ways in which others need you to be patient with them? Are there certain people, or certain kinds of people, who test the patience of your love more than others? Do you linger on the reasons why it is difficult to love others patiently, or do you look to Jesus to help you love patiently like he does? What difference might it make in the lives of others when you demonstrate patience? How can having Christlike patience affect your relationships and be good for others, even if there’s no guarantee that being patient with them will change them? How can having such patience bear witness to who God/Jesus is?