It’s easy to treat one another kindly when things are going well, but when hard times come, our patience wears thin and our kindness runs dry. Our struggling economy, our personal financial stress and our deepening concerns about the future of our nation and even our own lives make it difficult (sometimes) to remember to treat one another (even our own brethren) as Christians.
Take a moment and look at James 5:7-12. At least three times in this passage, God bids us to “be patient.” When things around us are coming undone, Christians are told, “Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned.” Other translations have–“Do not groan…”; “Do not murmur…”; “Do not complain against one another.” Grumbling against and about others is an easy thing to do, but Christians must “establish your hearts” against such.
James points to the prophets and to Job as examples to follow, but then he gives us our model for patience toward each other–“the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.”