Is patience a personality trait or a virtue bestowed by the Holy Spirit?

[gradstud35]

My professor did a personality assessment of all the students in class and one of our four behavioral indicators was patience/(name removed by moderator)atience. The other three were extroverion/introversion, formality/informality, and dominance/submissiveness. According to her, these behavorial indicators were for the most part, set in stone for the next forty-five years. I never thought of patience as a personality trait. I’ve been greatly impatient most of my life and have really prayed hard for patience the last five or six years. I believe it is a gift granted by God through the Holy Spirit just as the Catholic church teaches. Does anyone have any thoughts on this. FYI–the rest of the personality assesment came out pretty accurate.

 

[water]

I heard people saying that you can’t change your personality. So, if you are impatient, you will be.

It might be correct that you can’t change your personality if and only if you try to do it on your own. The Holy Spirit can change your personality.

Pray and we shall receive.

When we pray for the virtue of patience, we might expect our prayer will be granted like a miracle and it doesn’t need us to cooporate with God. I am not sure if it ever happens to anyone like that, but when we ask for patience, there might be more things we need to ask for to help us be patient.

How many times in the past had our patience lead us into arguing with others? yelling at each other? jumping to conclusion too fast? not allowing others to talk to us what he/she wanted to say? making wrong decision? or even thinking that we are always right and others are wrong?

If we could look at all consequences and trace back to the root/cause of our impatience, then we would be able to allow God to help us get rid of its root.

Could the root of patience have something to do with selfishness, ignorance, unkind, insensitive, etc… So, asking for virtue of patience is also to ask for virtue of love, humility, trust, etc …

Note: I am not pointing fingers at anybody, it is something that I have been dealing with my own personality.

 

[baymon]

I think patience can be both personality and virtue but there are differences. Patience as a personality trait is a just natural patient not beyond human, whereas patience granted by God is beyond nature, it’s supernatural. For example, if we look at the life of the saint, they are not only able to maintain calmness and peace of mind in the midst of harsh treatment or persecution, they even desire and long for it, this is certainly a grace of God, no one is born that way. However for patience as a personality trait, it’s linked with our temperament which has been ours since we are born. For example, I heard some people who have phlegmatic temperament tend to be patient, because they naturally don’t bother about things happened around themselves and about themselves. Just my opinion…

 

[larryhc]

St Paul’s letter to the Galatians Chapter 5 Verse 22 states,“The fruit of the Holy Spirit is love,joy,peace,patience,kindness,generiosity,faithfulness,gentleness and self control.” I guess human beings by nature are impatient …and if we have the Spirit of God in us we will bear much fruit …incluing the fruit of patience.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

Personality traits come from the environment that we were raised in, our early childhood experiences and genes.

Transformation from the negative personality traits that we have, requires transforming grace from God. What’s required on our part, is being opened to God’s will for us.

Jim

 

[udoc89]

I learned patience by homeschooling my children. That’s what I tell women who say they don’t have the “patience” to teach their own children. If you pray for patience, God sends you opportunities to practice. Now that my own children are grown, I teach first graders at a private academy. I get more patient every year. I can scarcely wait to find out what I’ll be like at 90…

God Bless!

 

[Sheeniac]

The answer is Yes.

I think you may have an inclination towards being patient or not, but can train yourself to become more patient. I have, although it’s very hard, and certainly not constant.

I think patience is also a gift from God. As I learn to truly view others as children of God (not a very easy task either), it makes it easier to be a little more patient.

Personally, I am starting to think that a lack of patience is a sign of too strong of an ego.

 

[archangel63]

Yes, it’s a virtue from God, undoubtedly.

“The fruit of the Holy Spirit is love,joy,peace,patience,kindness,generiosity,faithfulness,gentleness and self control.”

When reading this, it’s like:
love: check
joy: check
peace: I could use more “inner”
patience: check (most of the time)
kindness: check (A+)
generosity: check
faithfulness: check
gentleness: check
self control: needs lots of work, check minus

I guess if you can competely master this list, you’d make a good saint.