Table of Contents:

How often do you hear people discuss patience over dinner? Rarely do I. And rarely do I talk about it myself. This aligns with Parkinson's Law of Triviality. We give more attention to trivial (meaningless) topics and spend little to no time discussing critical matters like patience.

• (Definition of Parkinson's Law of Triviality)

A friend over dinner sparked this idea as he asked why we don't discuss patience more. I shared that I'm working on patience, which spurred his question.

This made me step back and ask, what is patience? If we talk so little about it, how can I have clarity on what it is and how to achieve it? Let's first go back in time and figure out where patience came from:

The history of patience

Patience has a long history (going back to 4500-2500 BC). If you want to read the entire history, click the toggle below. I'll provide the Sparknotes version:

• (The entire history of the word patience)

Patience started as a word for "embodying a willingness to bear adversities and the calm endurance of misfortune." Imagine living in those barbaric and chaotic times. You experienced constant adversities, making patience critical for survival.

As a Christian, patience has always been on my radar (Galatians 5:22 – Forbearance). But I never looked deeper into the word. I never understood what the writers of the Bible meant when they said to have patience.

The word patience in the Bible comes from the Greek word "Makrothymia." It appears 14 times in the New Testament and is a crucial virtue Christians should aspire for.

• (Here are a few notable uses in the Bible)

The definition of "Makrothymia"

"Makrothymia" is composed of two parts:

1. "makrós," which means "long,"
2. "thymós," which signifies "passion" or "anger."

The term encapsulates the idea of patience without reaction, where one waits enough time before expressing anger, thus avoiding premature use of force arising from improper anger. It's used to describe someone who is long-tempered and refrains from retaliating with rage.

It represents a state of mind that holds back for a long time before expressing itself in action or passion, embodying a restrained response to provocation.

This virtue is often associated with the qualities of lenience, forbearance, fortitude, patient endurance, and longsuffering, extending to the ability to endure persecution and ill-treatment. It paints a picture of an individual who embodies a tolerant and enduring spirit in the face of adversity.