Men who are impatient rarely arrive at greatness. This is because they cannot handle the years of focus that it takes to arrive at greatness. A man with a great work ethic may fail because he does not have the patience to maintain that work ethic over long periods of time.
“Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.”
Ecclesiastes 7:8
“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!”
Psalm 37:7
“Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.”
Romans 12:12
Patience is one of the cornerstone habits of men of excellence and strength. This can be seen in how these men react to various situations that they encounter. The masculine man does not lose his temper at trivial items in life. He does not allow small situations or problems that are beyond his ability to control cause him to lose his temper. He is not influenced by life because he himself is influencing life.
Have you seen men who lose their tempers or get agitated over miniscule things in life. How did they look when they “lost it”?
Pathetic?
Weak?
Childish?
The answer is all of the above. Would you trust this man in a life or death scenario? If they”lose it” under small pressures, how will they handle large pressures?
Though it is popular for people to brag about “losing it on someone”, that type of attrition warfare will get you nowhere, no matter how satisfying it is to give someone “the business”.
Great men have high levels of patience. They have patience in every sense of the word. They can wait for long periods of time for something they want or need.
The masculine man is unmoved by petty annoyances. He does not become upset because of other human beings. The masculine man is not even bothered when someone waits far too long to take their screaming baby out of the church assembly. The masculine man needs only to master himself and his emotions and patience will immediately follow.
Great men in the Word held patience as one of their key virtues.
Abraham waited years for the son of promise.
Job endured suffering and was written about in James 5.
Moses was the meekest man in all the earth.
David waited years on the throne of Israel.
Christ lived his entire life being patient and delaying gratification.
Also note that Christ was the only one of these men who did not amass great material wealth, because He was concerned with saving the world. The other men were very wealthy, therefore it is reasonable to argue a possible connection with the virtue of patience and wealth. Combining great virtue with faith was the way these men were able to be found worthy of possessing such wealth. God does what He wishes with the wealth of the world, but it is reasonable to say that He would not give wealth to the man whose faith would be destroyed by the possession of that wealth.
Foundational virtues must be in place before we can acquire great wealth if we are to simultaneously maintain our faith.
Patience is one of these virtues. It is a foundational building block of all other virtues, for without it we would give up or surrender to weakness. Patience allows us to build other virtues, no matter how slowly or painfully they are developed. In this way, patience is the foundational virtue. Other virtues are only as strong as the patience you have with them. So build patience first, before you build your other virtues.
Patience is masculine because men use it to resist outside forces. Strength is manifested not only in forcing your hand on others, but also on resisting those who try to force their hands on you.
Mantra
Patience is a pillar of strength.
Application
Stifle emotions. Control them and master them. You are going to feel angry and impatient at times. The first mission is to deny yourself the open expression of these feelings. If you are impatient, do not show it, you will only be showing a weakness for others to exploit. No one should ever know if you are feeling angry or impatient.
In your mind you must remember how others looked who openly expressed impatience or anger in a public setting. They exposed their weakness to the world, and you have not forgotten it. Neither will they forget if they see you expressing weakness though a lost temper. Suppress but do not repress emotion. Take your anger and channel it elsewhere.
The man who can be made angry can be defeated on the battlefield because he shows that he has no self-control and cannot maintain a level head in the midst of battle. Therefore, you must not be this man.
Convince yourself that you are in need of nothing. If you have no needs, then you have nothing to be impatient about.
The ideal man is in constant control of himself.
The moment you start to feel the impatient emotions stirring within you, detach from yourself. Take a breath and do not allow this thought to proceed from your mind to your facial expressions. You cannot allow this to happen, you must be in constant control of your mind. Suppress those negative emotions and do not allow them to express themselves. You must have constant self-awareness so you can monitor your feelings. Be aware of the moments when you are feeling impatient. It is extremely difficult to command yourself if you have no self-awareness.
Suppress emotion.
Be aware of self.
Command your mind.
Conduct yourself like men.
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