Be patient

Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all. – 1 Thessalonians 5.14

When I read this phrase the first thing that came to mind was a song from many years ago. It goes like this:

There really ought to be a sign upon my heart

Don't judge her yet, there's an unfinished part

But I'll be perfect just according to His plan

Fashioned by the Master's loving hands

He's still working on me, to make me what I ought to be

It took Him just a week to make the moon and stars

The sun and the earth and Jupiter and Mars

How loving and patient He must be, He's still working on me

In the mirror of His Word reflections that I see

Make me wonder why He never gave up on me

He loves me as I am and helps me when I pray

Remember He's the Potter, I'm the clay

He's still working on me, to make me what I ought to be

It took Him just a week to make the moon and stars

The sun and the earth and Jupiter and Mars

How loving and patient He must be, He's still working on me

I realise that the song is a reflection on how God works in our hearts, but it is the first part that caught my eye – ‘there really ought to be a sign upon my heart, saying don’t judge me yet.’

Obviously we cannot condone sin or make excuses for it, but there is a basis in truth here. None of us are perfect. We are all growing. God is working in each and every one of our hearts. Not a single one of us has arrived.

None of us like to be judged by others. We want people to understand that God is working and we are striving to become more Christ-like. If we are honest most of us know that we are still weak and flawed. We want others to be patient while we are growing.

Maybe that is why we are told here to warn the unruly, to comfort the faint-hearted, to uphold the weak, and all the while to ‘be patient with all.’ God is working on each of us. Let’s be patient with each other while He works.