A virtue called patience.

Patience. Something we could all work on. I've been thinking lately about this virtue.

At the end of Hebrews 12:1 it says "and let us run with patience the race that is set before us."

Run with patience.

That scripture made me think of a race. When you are running a race, especially a long one, you can't start out sprinting. You must pace yourself. You have to understand that if you run too fast you will wear yourself out. You have to be patient with yourself.

This is exactly like life. We are in a race. There are so many times in my life when I take a personal inventory and I come to the conclusion that I have so much to work on. So many things that I could do better. I think about how I could be running faster. It is overwhelming.

This scripture reminded me to SLOW DOWN. I don't have to sprint. The one thing that matters is that I just keep running, that I just keep working on myself. 

When I am running I often say something along the lines of "I will just get to that next tree." When I get to that tree I say "I can make it to that mailbox." And so it goes until I reach my goal. In life, we can do the same thing. We can work on one thing at a time. "I will work on reading just a verse in the Book of Mormon every day." Then when that goal is reached say, "Now I can try to go to church every week." And so it goes.

Elder Uchtdorf related this story in general conference a few years ago. 



Be patient. The marshmallows will come. Don't run too fast. Smile and enjoy the journey.

Our current prophet said, "Life is full of difficulties, some minor and others of a more serious nature. There seems to be an unending supply of challenges for one and all. Our problem is that we often expect instantaneous solutions to such challenges, forgetting the heavenly virtue of patience is required." -President Thomas S. Monson

I know that as we work on being patient that Jesus Christ is with us every step of the way! Because of His sacrifice we are able to make changes in our lives to become more like Him. He is our perfect example. Don't stop trusting in Him, in His love, and in your Heavenly Father.