How can I develop patience with others' faults?

[Wired]

It seems most of my sins are a result of a lack of patience and tolerance for the faults and shortcomings of others. I can go from irritation to contempt or anger very quickly even though I want very much to stop doing this. What are some practical things I can do to overcome this vice?

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

The old saw goes that one should never pray for patience because God will give you opportunities to practice it. Besides, seeking “patience” in accepting others’ “faults and shortcomings” suggests that you are correct in your judgment of others. Perhaps you are not correct and you are not only being impatient but unjust as well.

One way to deal with this is to stop focusing on others’ faults and work instead on yourself. Jesus expressed this idea when he said:

Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, “Let me take the speck out of your eye,” when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye (Matt. 7:3-5).

A practical way of acknowledging this in your own life would be to take the opportunity whenever you are angry with someone else for what you perceive to be his fault or shortcoming to pray for yourself: “Lord, I see clearly his fault in this, but I cannot see my own. Show me my fault so that I may overcome it.”