Tuesday

Related Verses
Phil. 1:21
21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

Phil. 4:5
5 Let your forbearance be known to all men. The Lord is near.

2 Cor. 12:7-9
7 And because of the transcendence of the revelations, in order that I might not be exceedingly lifted up, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, that he might buffet me, in order that I might not be exceedingly lifted up.
8 Concerning this I entreated the Lord three times that it might depart from me.
9 And He has said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness. Most gladly therefore I will rather boast in my weaknesses that the power of Christ might tabernacle over me.

2 Cor. 6:1
1 And working together with Him, we also entreat you not to receive the grace of God in vain;

2 Cor. 10:1
1 But I myself, Paul, entreat you through the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who (as you say) in person am base among you, but while absent am bold toward you,

Isa. 11:2
2 And the Spirit of Jehovah will rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and the fear of Jehovah.

Related Reading
In his Word Studies Wuest points out that the Greek word rendered “forbearance” not only means satisfied with less than our due but also means sweet reasonableness. The word includes self-control, patience, moderation, kindness, and gentleness. Furthermore, according to Christian experience, forbearance is all-inclusive, for it includes all Christian virtues. This means that if we fail to exercise forbearance, we fail to exercise any Christian virtue…If by the grace of Christ [a brother] is satisfied with less than his due and exercises forbearance toward his wife, not criticizing her or condemning her, he will show in his forbearance an all-inclusive Christian virtue. His forbearance will include patience, humility, self-control, looking to the Lord, and even the virtue of admitting that the Lord is sovereign in all things. (Life-study of Philippians, pp. 479-480) 

—

The reason we sometimes behave in an unseemly manner is that we lack forbearance. Negative attitudes and unkind words also come from a shortage of forbearance. When we fail to love, it is because we have no forbearance. Likewise, we may be intolerant because we lack forbearance. Even talkativeness may result from having no forbearance…If we do not show forbearance toward the members of our family, there will be no peace in our family life. Peace comes out of forbearance. 

Paul realized that forbearance is an all-inclusive virtue. This is the reason he says, “Let your forbearance be known to all men” [Phil. 4:5]. This forbearance is actually Christ Himself. In 1:21 Paul says, “To me, to live is Christ.” Since Christ is forbearance, for Paul to live was forbearance. Paul’s earnest expectation was that Christ would be magnified in him, whether through life or through death. For Paul to magnify Christ was for him to make known his forbearance. Thus, for Christ to be magnified in us is equal to making our forbearance known to all men. The reason for this is that forbearance is Christ experienced by us in a practical way. We may speak of living Christ and testify that for us, to live is Christ. However, day by day in our life at home, what we need is forbearance. If we have forbearance, then in our experience we truly have Christ. 

The key to being a good husband or wife is forbearance. To repeat, forbearance includes much more than gentleness or humility. As an all-inclusive Christian virtue, forbearance is Christ Himself. In both the family life and in the church life, we need to live Christ by living a life of forbearance. 

The more we consider the significance of forbearance, the more we can appreciate why Paul spoke of it in 4:5. Our failures and defeats in the Christian life come because we are short of forbearance. All the saints, young and old alike, have a tendency to neglect forbearance. If we would live Christ, we must be satisfied with less than our due. We should not make exacting demands on others. 

The Lord Jesus lived a life of forbearance when He was on earth. In one sense, He was very strict, but in another sense, He was very tolerant. For example, although He prayed a great deal, He did not make demands of His disciples concerning prayer or condemn them because they did not pray enough. 

Immediately after speaking about forbearance, Paul goes on to say, “The Lord is near.”…According to experience…I would say that this word refers to the Lord’s presence with us today. It also strengthens Paul’s exhortation that we make our forbearance known to all men. Because the Lord is near, we have no excuse for not making known our forbearance. Often we fail to exercise forbearance because we forget that the Lord is near. We do not even remember that He is actually within us…Because we do not realize that the Lord is near, we do not exercise forbearance. (Life-study of Philippians, pp. 480-481) 

Further Reading: Life-study of Philippians, msg. 56