But the fruit of the
spirit is...longsuffering. Galatians 5.22
Once in awhile the modern translations convey less of the original meaning of
the Greek word than does the King James translation. In many modern
translation makrothumia, translated as longsuffering in the King James
Version of the Bible, is rendered patience or endurance. In fact, neither of
these convey the true meaning of the word as well as does "longsuffering."
Makrothumia is a compound word coming from the two words makro
(meaning large or long) and thumia (meaning suffering). The word
literally means to suffer for a long period of time. Today, we tend to
trivialize patience. Being patient is taken as meaning that you can stand in
line for more than five minutes without having an anxiety attack, or that you
can work one project for a long period of time without giving up. It's like
saying that you can cope effectively with boredom. This is definitely not the
meaning of this word.
Endurance comes closer since it has the connotation of bearing up under the
weight of some burden. However, endurance has a slightly broader meaning. What
is being endured may not be especially painful. It may simply be tiring. For
instance, the well trained long distance runner may be winded at the end of a
mile, but probably not in pain. Endurance also has the sense that what the
person is enduring is something that will primarily result in pain, fatigue,
despondency etc.
Makrothumia, on the other hand, refers specifically to bearing with the
affronts of others. It means that we suffer insults, annoyances, and
persecution over a significant period of time without seeking revenge .And it
doesn't mean that we are slow in responding because we are using that time to
plan an especially effective revenge. It means that we honestly do not seek to
take action against another who is hurting us. In that sense it is an
attribute of love.
I can hear some of you saying, "Yeah, but you don't know what so-and-so did to
me." That's right I don't know and I don't wan to know. I do know what they
did to Jesus. They spat on him, beat him, crushed a crown of thorns into his
skull, stabbed him with a spear and hung him on a cross to die. He withstood
it in silence, and his last words included this prayer: "Father, forgive them
for they know not what to do."
Why are we to be longsuffering with others? The answer is simple: God has been
longsuffering with us. As you have received, so must you give.