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对于吃冷冻比萨饼，我没有丝亳的耐性。我不等烤箱预热便把饼放进去，当饼烤烘好后，我又不等它凉一点便立即开始吃。我缺乏耐心的结果，就是被一个烤得糟糕的比萨饼烫了嘴巴！

然而，如果我改变一下，先是耐心一点处理好冷冻比萨饼，这还不能表示圣灵在我心里动工了。当我们以圣灵的果子来看忍耐时，它的意思不只是急躁的反义词那么简单。所以，在《加拉太书》五章22至23节列出圣灵所结的果子时，有时会用“容忍”（forbearance）或“恒久忍耐”（longsuffering）来取代“耐心”（patience）的。

圣灵感动使徒彼得提醒他的读者，神对所有人心怀忍耐——祂容忍着且恒久忍耐着他们。

神首先在伊甸园彰显了祂对人类令人震撼的忍耐，祂应许赐下一位救主挽回他们，而不是叫他们永远离开祂的面。（参创 3:15）而从那时起，神一直耐心地呼召我们去悔改。纵使有时祂也会惩罚我们，但祂不会毁灭祂所爱、蒙祂呼召的人类。今天，神仍然继续等待万族万国的人以信心和悔改来到祂面前。而祂也天天呼召我们信靠之人转向祂，又以赞美和感恩的心来歌颂祂的忍耐宽容。

When it comes to frozen pizza, I am not at all patient. I don't wait for the oven to preheat, and once the pizza is done, I don't wait for it to cool down. My impatience leads to a poorly cooked pizza that burns my mouth!

But if I changed and became more patient with frozen pizza, that would not necessarily be a sign of the Spirit working in me. When we think of patience as the fruit of the Spirit, it means more than just the opposite of hotheadedness. That is why "forbearance" or "longsuffering" is sometimes listed in place of "patience" in the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23.

The Holy Spirit prompted the apostle Peter to remind his readers about the patience—longsuffering and forbearance—of God to all people.

God first showed his amazing patience with humanity in the Garden of Eden when he promised a Savior rather than eternal banishment from his presence (Genesis 3:15). And ever since then, God has patiently continued to call us to repentance. Though he will sometimes send punishment, God does not destroy the people he loves and has called. God continues to wait today for people from every tribe and nation to come to him in faith and repentance. And he calls us to return to him daily and to celebrate his patience with praise and thanksgiving.