Above Ground 5 Patience

"All men commend patience, although few are willing to practice it."

Thomas Kempis

If we get this one, all kinds of growth becomes available to us! But we're not going to have much help by watching most of the people in our lives. Let us not rush or merely mimic a counterfeit version of patience to try only to get an instant version of it. . .

Thaw

• Who comes to mind when you think of patience?
• Why?
• Describe a time when you saw them putting patience to work?
• How is/was this different from how you would shave responded?
• Why?
• What most stuck with you from Sunday?

Read

• Proverbs 19:11
• Proverbs 14:29
• Proverbs 15:18
• Proverbs 16:32
• Ecclesiastes 7:9
• Thoughts?

• Why is patience so valuable?
• Does our culture value it? Explain?
• Can people make a living in your field of work (past or present) by being known foremost as patient?
• Explain.

Read

• Ephesians 4:1-3
• Thoughts?
• Why do you imagine patience, or its lack, was an issue in the early church?

Leader note: Help the group imagine the difficulties of the rely church. Much like today in many respects, very different i others: extreme differences in opinion on doctrinal issues. Persecution from Jews, Romans, family. Class struggles, where rich people were still assuming the hierarchy of human worth was intact, even within the church body. And then famine, disease, violence, injustice and everything that plagued people, regardless of belief system. Help the group imagine a new body of people that's known for complete humility and patience with people, despite the difficulties of life in every way.

Discuss

• What is a recent example of your will being blocked, and anger being the result?
• How could moving your will (as in considering the person or people that blocked your will as now the object of your love, rather than objects in your way) have changed things?
• How does planning ahead help?

Leader note: Help the group think about ways to assume the testing of patience is coming. When kids go to bed, they WILL get back up. How will we act? When our manager makes the much anticipated announcement, it likely WILL be good news only for some because of his/her lack of perspective. How will we respond and will we pride ourselves at being a hard worker, or derider of leadership? When you're running late, everyone else WILL seem against you being on time, but that's only real in your own head. Will you cuss traffic, let your blood boil or keep your mind clear and get to where you're going, like everyone else on the road? Planning and anticipating ways that your will may be thwarted, widens your will and makes you infinitely harder to upset!

Apply

• On a scale of one to ten (ten being nuclear and one being frozen) rate your degree anger, agitation and anxiety in any given moment. Keep this number to your self.
• On the same scale, rate the person closest to you.
• Share the numbers, and see what you can learn about how you perceive yourself and others where a sense of being angry is concerned.
• What does this tell you about patience, and its "community" value?

Leader note: You may have people that feel defensive about the results they hear. Peacefully, gently, remind them that they have just been given a gift. There's no need to argue another's perception. Take it as information you couldn't possibly have about yourself and see what we can learn about it. Fruit of the Spirit!. . .A a fruit tree, it's no use arguing that the oranges you are creating were supposed to be regarded as pears. Feedback on how others perceive you simply helps bridge the gap between how we think we are taken, and how we actually come across.

• What are three areas that you need patience?
• How does the practice or "lengthening the wing", and changing your view of what you want and who's in the way help in these ares?
• Are you willing to give it the next 2, 5 or 10 years to grow?
• How can this group help get you on the path?