Being patient

“And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.” 1 Thessalonians 5:14
At the end of most of his epistles, Paul gives a quick list of exhortations, things the church he is writing to should do more of. I’m not going to spend much time on the first three of these, because they are pretty straightforward: warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak.
The last one is the hardest for me: Be patient with everyone. How about you? Do you get exasperated with people easily? Is there someone who always seems to be pushing your buttons?
I don’t really have an answer for how to deal with this, because I’m not yet there myself. Isolating yourself, or distancing yourself from the person who annoys you, is not the answer – that doesn’t deal with the problem. The only thing I can suggest is to pray and ask God to develop more patience in you. Also, pray for that person. Praying for them – for their good, not that they would stop annoying you! – will change your heart toward them. If they aren’t a believer, pray especially for their salvation.
Above all, we need to remember this: God is patient and merciful with us! We do things that are completely abhorrent to Him, yet He is still patient. We have let Him down over and over again; we have misrepresented Him; we have betrayed Him. So just as God has shown patience and mercy to us, so we also need to show the same kind of patience and mercy towards other people.