An unsung virtue

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness and self-control. Galatians 5:22-23

There are people who sometimes get described as “unsung heroes”. They don’t hit the headlines or make a big impact, but they do make a big contribution to the success of the things they are involved in. They are far more important than they might seem.

I think too there are qualities that could be described as “unsung virtues”, and I want to focus on one.

I imagine we all know Paul’s great list of “the fruit of the Spirit” here in Galatians 5. Just reading it through again has a bracing, challenging, cleansing effect: oh to be more like this! Quite likely we tend to linger on the first three – “love, joy, peace” –  perhaps because, subconsciously, we like the fact that they are each just one syllable, unlike the others, and therefore easier to get our heads round.

But what’s this at number four? The New International Version has “forbearance”, the New Revised Standard Version, the Good News  Bible and the English Standard Version all have “patience”, The Message has “a willingness to stick with things”, while the King James Version has the old-fashioned word, “long-suffering”. Other possible translations might be “perseverance”, “endurance”, “persistence”, even “steadfastness”.

Various shades of meaning, and in the New Testament there is a cluster of Greek words which are used to convey the general idea. And what I’m leading up to is that they are far more common, and more important, than we might imagine.

In Romans 5 Paul has not so much a list as a chain: “… we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope” (verses 3-4). The key word there is “character”, highlighting the fact that what matters about us isn’t so much the gifts we have as the personal qualities we demonstrate: what kind of people are we? And character, says Paul, is the slow, gradual outgrowth of perseverance.

Let me focus on three main aspects of perseverance…

First, “patience”.

To me, this is simply the willingness to quietly get on with the everyday, routine duties and responsibilities of the Christian life. Which can be hard, because (changing the image) the Christian life is a marathon rather than a sprint. Starting is easy enough; what matters is to keep going. It’s in this sense that I rather like “stickability”.

We shouldn’t mistake this for what might be called “flogging a dead horse”; there are times to recognise that the moment has come to call a halt. How many man- and woman-hours are wasted – how much precious energy expended – in refusing to recognise that such a time has come? I heard recently about a pastor who refused to accept that his church had, in effect, ceased to exist – even though often he was the only person who turned up.

No. Perseverance in this sense is the cheerful determination not to give up just because it’s hard. Remember Jesus’ word of warning: “No one who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62).

Second, “endurance”.

This is, if you like, patience-plus – patience in the teeth of real problems and hardships. It applies particularly, of course, to the experience of persecution, and figures several times in the Book of Revelation. Jesus commends the church of Philadelphia because, he says, “you have kept my command to endure patiently” (Revelation 3:10).

As I write, just after International Women’s Day, I have in mind Asia Bibi, a wife and mother who was recently released from nearly ten years in captivity on charges of blasphemy under Pakistani law. Also Leah Sharibu, a 16-year-old girl kidnapped two years go in her home country of Nigeria, and refusing to accept release at the cost of denying Jesus. What endurance! – and, of course, these two women represent thousands of others whose names we don’t know.

Pray for all who have to exercise such endurance!

Third, “forbearance” or “long-suffering”.

This has been defined as “putting up with people you would like to put down”. That’s quite clever, and we may find ourselves grimly smiling: our fellow-Christians aren’t always easy to get on with!

But I think the words “putting up with” aren’t really right. For we are, after all, not only to put up with but actually to love even our enemies – how much more, then, our fellow-believers!

I heard of a church that regarded difficult and tiresome members as falling into the category of EGR – “extra grace required”. Perhaps that captures it better (as long as we keep in mind that, who knows, it might just be us that’s on somebody’s EGR list…).

Why not do a Bible search to see how important this notion is in the New Testament? It will help us to be truly grateful for those dear Christians who exemplify this quality – and hopefully also to inspire us to exemplify it ourselves.

And as you do so, keep in mind the words of CH Spurgeon: “By perseverance the snail reached the ark”.

Father, when things get tiresome and tough, help me to see this as an opportunity to develop the grace of perseverance and not to give up. Amen.