Instead of Complaining, We Must Be Patient with One Another

Trials should produce patience with others. The apostle James implies that we should not complain about one another, but should try to restore one another with patience.

I believe that in congregations, brothers and sisters need that kind of patience with one another. For there to be harmony in a church, it is so important that we forgive one another, bear wrongs, and take a long-term view of those difficult people who need someone to guide them, tolerate them, and be patient with them when they do things that offend the other brothers and sisters. We need patience with those who come to faith with many mistaken ideas and flaws of character, and we need to receive them and help them along little by little so they can get where they need to go.

Or when people sin or offend in some way, or suffer a spiritual fall, we should also be able to bear with them and bring them little by little to a higher level of spiritual growth. I think, for example, of what the apostle Paul says in another passage: “My brothers, if anyone is caught in any fault, you who are spiritual should restore that person in a spirit of gentleness, watching yourself, lest you too fall.”

That is, we must be patient. Instead of complaining about those who fall, we should simply restore them with patience, love, and gentleness, guiding them through that process of restoration. Paul also says in another passage that pastors and teachers must be patient with people, that they must not be quarrelsome, contentious, or impatient, and that they should be able to guide people little by little through the process of sanctification.

In pastoral ministry, we must be patient. In married life, there must be patience as our spouse grows or when we offend one another. In fatherhood or motherhood, we must be patient with one another to be good parents to our children. That is, in all these circumstances, when it comes to social relationships and our relationships with others, it is important to exercise this quality of patience. There can be no harmony in communities if there is no patience among the people who make up that community.

So we saw that in the preceding verses the apostle James speaks of patience concerning the Second Coming; now another reason is this idea that we must be patient with one another. Instead of complaining and continually getting upset about mistakes, including the ones we ourselves make, we should be patient and take that long-term view—the same view God takes toward us regarding our process of sanctification. God bless you, and we will continue later.