Ah, we have come to the last obligation found in 1Thessalonians 5:14: “And we exhort you, brothers: warn those who are irresponsible, comfort the discouraged, help the weak, be patient with everyone.” [5:14 HCSB]
That last command is pretty all-purpose. “Be patient with everyone.”
I think Paul left it for last because he knows a lot about the attitudes of people who might excuse themselves from the first three commands. We may claim to not know anyone who is irresponsible, discouraged, or weak … but we all know an “everyone.”
The person who is “patient with everyone” is one who is even-tempered and slow to anger. We may need that trait abundantly when we deal with the idle, timid, or weak. We may need that trait abundantly when we deal with unbelievers.
Perhaps we need it most abundantly when we deal with believers who provoke discontent in the church through their thoughtless or even intentionally hurtful acts. We all have run across those believers who are harsh or judgmental.
It is so much easier to have patience with people who are struggling in the circumstances of life. It is far harder to have patience with people we do not particularly like or who do not particularly like us! Yet, we all know those people exist both in and out of the church.
Paul does not leave us with much of an excuse … we are to “be patient with everyone.”
Today: Thank you LORD for giving me the opportunity to exercise patience with everyone, just as You exercise so much patience with me.
