The gateway Christlike attribute

I was watching Barrett the other day.

He crawls and climbs over everything.

He saw his milk bottle and started crying for it.

I gave it to him and it made him happy for a bit.

And then he picked up a smaller toy and put it by his mouth.

I jumped up and grabbed the toy out of his hand, putting it on the counter.

He started crying.

He wanted that toy as much as he had wanted that bottle.

I gave him the bottle and took away the toy.

While I was trying to find something else for him to play with, I thought about his sweet little naive lack of patience.

He just wants whatever he thinks he wants, and he has virtually no understanding for why he can’t have everything he wants right now.

And I know he’ll learn as he gets older – why he can’t put everything in his mouth, why mom can’t give him everything, why some things are dangerous.

But… do we ever really learn all the way?

Just this week, I needed what I thought was an urgent answer to a prayer, but it didn’t come right away. I felt frustrated.

But it turned out that taking more time was exactly the answer I needed.

“Patience is tied very closely to faith in our Heavenly Father.

“Actually, when we are unduly impatient, we are suggesting that we know what is best—better than does God. Or, at least, we are asserting that our timetable is better than His” Neal A. Maxwell.

Impatience = pride.

And boy, does pride take a lifetime to remove.

But learning patience is worth it.

It’s the gateway to all other Christlike attributes.

Because at the root of patience is faith in God. Real faith, real trust.

And so I’ll keep learning patience a little more and more every day.

Just like my one year old.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black