THE FAMILY ALTAR

July 25.

"The fruit of the Spirit is long-suffering." Gal. 5:22.

Long-suffering means not to be easily provoked, to bear injuries

and wrongs for a long time, to forgive and spare offenders. God

is long-suffering with us, He does not deal with us after our sins,

nor reward us according to our iniquities. In fact, God's long-

suffering is our salvation, as Peter tells us in his second epistle.

If, therefore, God had such patience with us and did not cut us

down in His wrath when we proved barren, unfruitful trees, but

spared us and continued with His Word and Spirit to convert

and save us, should not we be long-suffering also with our erring

brethren, patiently bearing with their faults and in all love and

gentleness teaching them to do better? A certain mother had to

repeat her lesson nineteen times before her little child grasped it.

Hearing it, the father exclaimed: "How could you tell the child

the same thing over and over again nineteen times?" "Because

he had not learned it at the eighteenth time," sweetly replied the

patient mother. Many a dull pupil at school has blossomed into

a bright scholar because of the infinite pains his faithful, patient

teacher took with him. Again, many wayward sons or daughters

could have been saved from their downward career if their parents

had been more long-suffering with them and had prayed more for

them. "A soft answer turneth away wrath; but grievous words

stir up anger." (Prov. 15, 1.) Many a man could have been won

as a friend, even kept with the Church, if, instead of upbraiding

and angry words, he had heard a kind and forgiving word in

season. While regarding the mote in our brother's eye, let us not

forget the beam in our own eye. Let us ever remember how much

we need the long-suffering mercy of our God and Savior. As his

redeemed children let us reveal the same patient spirit toward our

fellow-men. "The fruit of the Spirit is long-suffering."