[Steve Myers] Would someone describe you as a longsuffering individual? Perhaps you think of yourself as being patient. Well, is there a difference between those things? Well, if you look to the Bible there are a couple of interesting details about those two words, and it's emphasized in a passage that's in the book of Colossians.

Colossians 1:10-11 focus on these things. Sometimes we think, "Well, patience is longsuffering, or longsuffering equals patience." But actually there is a difference and Colossians brings that out. It says that we should, "Walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God." And then in the following verse, verse 11 it says, "Strengthen with all might according to His glorious power for all patience and longsuffering with joy." Then it goes on talking about some other concepts, but it's interesting that if we're going to be fully pleasing to God, there needs to be patience and longsuffering.

So what's the difference? Or is there a difference?

Well, there is. Now if you begin to look at the Greek words that make up patience and longsuffering you'll find there is a difference. When you look at patience it's made up of two Greek words. Patience has the idea of first, the first word is hypo from the Greek, hypo, which means that you have to stay under, hypo meaning under. The other part of the word is mone and that means to remain or abide or stay. So you stay under.

So what's it referring to? Well, patient, we're staying under, we're abiding, we're remaining under the circumstances that we're faced with. So when we're faced with a trial, when we're faced with a difficulty, when we're faced with a circumstance we look to God. We remain under that and look to Him to guide us and lead us and help us through those things. So being patient with circumstances is what patience is all about. Okay, circumstances is what patience deals with.

Now longsuffering is a little bit different. Longsuffering is also a compound Greek word that has to do with first, makros, now that's opposite of micros. Makros meaning big or long, and then it has the Greek word thumos. Thumos meaning hot or angry or fierce. So long suffering means far or long from anger. Far from anger. Now think about how that would be different than patience. Well patience meaning patient, remaining under circumstances. Longsuffering meaning far from anger with people, with people.

So, as we see, these are important aspects that we should have as a part of our character to complete and fully round us out in the image of Christ, that we are patient with difficult circumstances and we can have a perspective that we can abide with them because we know we're under God's care. And at the same time we have to be longsuffering, which means we have to put up with people. We have to be abiding with them, remaining and using God's spirit so that we are far from anger when it comes to dealing with our fellow man.

Now, if we do those things, I believe we fulfill God's commandments that we do love our neighbor as ourselves, and no matter what we see God's guidance in our life.

So let's strive to add patience and longsuffering to our character so that when we think of these things people will think of us as being longsuffering and patience.

That's BT Daily. We'll see you next time.