Chapter One
THE BENEFITS OF PATIENCEProverbs
Stop it!"
"No!"
"You are going to break Dad's computer!"
"Its my turn!"
The game of computer Monopoly comes to an abrupt
halt. My youngest son stomps out of the study and runs
upstairs to his room. My two older sons walk away, exasperated.
So much for a quiet Sunday afternoon.
With a little more patience the game could have gone
on. But the boys were tired, and it was a hot afternoon.
Patience on such days is not in great supply.
For most of us, more is at stake during frustrating
times than a children's game. Yet it is in the trying times, when we seem least inclined to be patient, that we need
it the most. We can be encouraged to grow in patience
if we look at its benefits in the book of Proverbs.
Warming Up
1. Take a patience inventory. At what times and in what circumstances
do you tend to be impatient?
Digging In
2. Read the five proverbs listed on page 10. How would you summarize
the qualities of a patient person?
3. What contrasts are drawn between a patient and impatient person?
4. Look at Proverbs 15:18. How does patience/impatience affect our
relationships with others?
How have you seen patience/impatience affect relationships in
your life?
5. Read Proverbs 16:32. Why do you think a patient person is better
than a warrior or one who takes a city?
6. How could patience be a great asset in your (choose one) workplace, classroom, home?
7. Read Proverbs 14:29 and 19:11. How does patience-or the lack
of it-reveal whether a person is wise or foolish?
8. Think of a person you know who is very patient. In what other
ways does that person seem wise?
9. Look at Proverbs 15:18 and 25:15. How does patience or impatience
affect the impact of our speech?
(Continues.)
