“Or do you despise the riches of His . . . longsuffering . . . ?” Rom. 2:4. “And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation . . . .” 2 Pet. 3:15. If God’s longsuffering, mercy, and compassion had not been immeasurably great, He would have grown so tired of us, of our sins and our unbelief and slowness of heart and lukewarmness, that He would have stopped working with us and rejected us. Therefore His longsuffering means that salvation and more salvation is still available. Glory to His great and holy and glorious name! And this in turn means that we can be filled with His burning, boiling hot and divine love, the love that, among other things, is longsuffering! Through this love we also become longsuffering and forbearing with others, just as He has been with us! We can also be filled with the riches of His longsuffering to the extent that it never fails!! This means that in our ministry we have hope and faith for the ones we are serving and are working with so that we, without ceasing, keep waiting patiently for their betterment, that they might receive grace to grow and progress in everything that is good and noble. When we are filled with the love of God and the love of Christ, which are like this, those whom we serve will notice it, which will then strengthen them to endure, believing that they can also obtain this life. In this way, our longsuffering will also be an important contribution to their further salvation and perfection. “With longsuffering, bearing with one another . . . .” Eph. 4:2. “Love . . . bears all things.” 1 Cor. 13:7. Most people can bear little or very little. This obviously means that love is not present in their inner man! “Strengthened . . . for all . . . longsuffering . . . .” Col. 1:11. It is therefore possible, and this means, without a doubt, that longsuffering does not fail under any circumstance. Paul writes to his son in the faith, Timothy, “But you have carefully followed my . . . longsuffering.” 2 Tim. 3:10. Paul kept God’s longsuffering in his bosom, and his follower, Timothy, also did that. This is what all true followers of Jesus do. The Lord be highly praised!!! “Exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.” 2 Tim. 4:2. All true servants of the Lord and fellow workers are meant to do this very thing over and over again, without ceasing. If we are to do this, we must possess, or acquire, the love that is described in 1 Corinthians, Chapter 13 as a permanent possession in our inner man. And we must also possess a thorough knowledge concerning the doctrine of Jesus Christ and of the apostles. “He who is longsuffering has great understanding.” Prov. 14:29. Getting sick and tired of people and not being longsuffering, or lacking longsuffering, is great folly! It is with this very blessed longsuffering that we can contribute in the best way to the individual’s success in what we are called to. “He who is longsuffering allays contention.” Prov. 15:18. He is a peacemaker! Unfortunately, there are not many of them! However, through God’s great longsuffering there will be more of them as time goes by. You, too, must make an effort to be one of them. “He who is longsuffering is better than the mighty . . . .” Prov. 16:32. What a wise expression for how unspeakably great and effective longsuffering is!!!Elias Aslaksen