Patience and perseverance are better than any financial investment you could ever make because in time, it will profit your soul! James talks about letting patience have its perfect work. The kind of patience he’s talking about is not passive but it’s diligent obedience. Patience is required when you do the right thing and then wait as long as it takes for God to bless your efforts. Our nature is to try and work things out on our own right away, but God says to wait on Him.
It’s especially important to have the ability to wait and be obedient in our relationships. Love waits. My wife and I dated three years before marrying and we waited. I believe that the trust between us today is due to the fact we were faithful to God in our dating relationship. I know my wife to be a faithful person and so I trust her. It’s also a virtue to wait on passing judgement on someone, retaliating for some wrong that was done to you or responding to a conflict in the heat of anger.
Abraham Lincoln had a habit of writing what he called a “hot letter” so that he could get all his angry thoughts out. Then he would wait. When he cooled down, he would write, “Never Sent, Never Signed” on the letter and put it away. He was obedient and patient. What do you think the world would be like if we all learned to wait patiently before we responded to offenses? I know how it’s changed my life. Just a few years ago, I was filled with worry and anger. I would just say whatever was on my mind and I didn’t care about the consequences. The problem was that I was the one who always paid the consequences. But, I learned to stay quiet and wait on my responses. Now I have peace.