I can remember being a boy and days where I really aggravated my parents. There was a look I would receive and I knew I had pushed them to the point where one more small “straw” and the “camel’s back would break”. My parents were always good to display grace in those times. I can remember those days now and as a parent I can relate. We all love our kids. We all know that they are the greatest kids in the world! But we also all know that our kids can sometimes be “difficult”, that is to say that they can, at times, push us over the edge. The truth is we all need to have patience as we raise our children! But how?

Galatians 5 tells us of the “fruit of the Spirit”. This “fruit” should “grow” in the lives of believers. But this “fruit” does not grow naturally, it is a work of God in us as we obey and follow Him! “²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, ²³ Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. ²⁴ And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. ²⁵ If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” Galatians 5:22-25. Really all of these fruits that make up the fruit of the Spirit can change the way we raise our children, but two words we really ought to consider are “longsuffering” and “temperance”. Longsuffering means “having or showing patience in spite of troubles, especially those caused by other people.” Temperance means “self restraint”. Both of these terms sound a lot like patience!

So how do we have patience with our children, especially in those difficult times? When we walk in the Spirit, we have the fruit of the Spirit, which means we will have patience!