Today’s guest author is SaVonni Yestanti, who describes herself as a grateful mom and teacher to a young son, and a fruit bearer called by God to “finish the race” by telling everyone about the work that He has been trying to complete within her. She was directed by God to offer a unique, judgment-free ministry that focuses on the Freedom that each individual has in Christ. You can follow her ministry at GodGaveMeFreedom.com 

(Image: Unsplash)

We can’t love people if we don’t have the patience to deal with people or the circumstances we may find ourselves in.  Specifically, makrothumia deals with our ability, as Beth Moore states in the video series, to “be patient with people who are driving us nuts.” Moore stressed the fact that God is keenly interested in makrothumia because “people will always be the priority over circumstances. God’s priority is going to be how we treat people.

We are to exhibit patience towards others because God exhibited patience towards us. Looking at the “ungrateful servant,” (Matthew 18), we see the consequences of not exhibiting the patience that is granted to us. Moore talked about the fact that God knew it would be harder to deal with some people than it would be deal to deal with others because those “thorns in our sides” tend to bring out the worst in us. When we bring out the worst that is contained within us, God shaves off that bad stuff, presenting us as a closer representation of His full character.

Unlike hupomone, where we pray about our circumstances, makrothumia requires the releasing of the Holy Spirit within us; it is God’s spirit working through us to show God’s patience to people. We are propositioned by Moore to consider this seriously as the world WILL NOT help us in this regard. Again, the world is not prepared to exhibit patience in our fast-paced society, as everybody wants everything right now. So Moore gave us a phrase to consider: “Patience waits.” We are asked to show God’s patience towards others the way that He shows patience towards us every day.

We are asked to “bear” with one another; to endure…to exercise restraint when dealing with people…. and then we are introduced to another Greek word, anecho, which means “to put up with; forbear.” That does not mean that we are to be gluttons for punishment; what that means is that we are to be slow to respond negatively to persecution and hardship. It is for this reason: just because a situation is hard, does not mean that it is necessary from the enemy; it may be a situation that is created to fix something within us. When this is the case, we have a testimony of overcoming to witness to others. Our testament serves to help others who may be experiencing the very same thing.

To help us further exercise restraint when dealing with others, we were introduced to the premise of judgment and damaging it can be. We learned the Greek term for the word judgment is krino, which means “to pass judgment upon, condemn, take vengeance on.”

Finally, we looked at Biblical forgiveness. We learned that we cannot walk in step with the Spirit if we are so busy keeping a record of wrongs – and we also give Satan a foothold as he notices yet another thing to cause division between us as individuals and between us and God. We are to forgive EVERYONE for EVERYTHING, ALL OF THE TIME, as God commands us, so He can forgive each of us for everything. When we do this, we “wipe the slate clean” and we choose not to grieve the Holy Spirit by whom we were “sealed for the day of redemption.”

You cannot be free to keep step with the Spirit when you are encumbered by the load of unforgiveness. -Beth Moore

Assignment For Next Week

  • Read Week Seven in the workbook
  • Listen to the Session Seven Audio (optional)
  • OR…Listen to the Session Seven Video (optional)

In week six of Living Beyond Yourself: Exploring the Fruit of the Spirit by Beth Moore, we’re asked to consider the fourth Fruit of the Spirit: Patience. We are introduced to different Greek translations for the word patience, as originally recorded in scripture. Moore explains the difference between hupomone patience, which translates into endurance or perseverance inspired by hope, and makrothumia, inspired by mercy and the quality of the Fruit of the Spirit.

Living Beyond Yourself Bible Study