Why is Patience Important?
The first and main reason is clear: patience is a characteristic of God, and we are to imitate God’s character (Ephesians 5:1). In Jonah 4:2, Jonah prayed, “I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.” The idea of being “slow to anger” is synonymous with patience, and patience is about controlling anger and delaying it just as God does. Peter tells us: “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). God’s patience toward us can be misinterpreted as “slowness,” when in reality it is an intentional delay of His wrath. We can conclude that a second reason patience is important is because it allows for some problems to be resolved (in this example, through repentance). Many problems, for example, are the result of miscommunication. It takes patience to detect and correct mi
