God's patience towards every believer is beyond compare. Through His love and finished work, Jesus made a way for us to be free of the consequence of sin, not so that we would walk in it but that we would grow more and more out of the occurrence of sin. God's patience for those He loves must never be confused as tolerance for sin.

1 Corinthians 13:4a tells us, "Love is patient and kind..." and there is no better epitome of this patience and kindness than God Himself. Because He is patient, He works in each of our lives teaching us to say no to sin, to restore our identity in Him and direct us to the destiny He has for us all. Because He is kind, He made a way for us to experience His goodness on earth when we have never once deserved His grace.

God's Spirit brings forth patience (Galatians 5:22) because He in essence is patient. Imagine what our lives would be like if God was impatient with us. Because we fall short so many times and make so many mistakes, one can only imagine how much patience God has for each of us, and there's so many of us broken sinners in this world!

However, in all God's patience for us, He is never tolerant of sin. That's why God works to make all things work together for our good (Romans 8:28) instead of allowing us to experience the eternal consequence of sin. That's why Jesus Christ came once and for all to cancel sin once and for all once we believe that the sacrifice of Jesus was more than enough.

God is patient with us for the very simple reason that He loves us and desires that we experience Him and His goodness, but God also calls us to be holy and righteous. 1 Peter 1:16 says, "since it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy.'"

But we all know that no one can be holy and righteous no matter how hard we try. All have fallen short and missed the mark in attaining God's perfectness and righteousness. But even in the midst of our imperfect, Jesus give us His perfection and then gives us His Spirit so that we can learn to say no to sin. He also allows discipline to come to us, not because He wants to inflict pain revengefully, but because he wants to lovingly (although sometimes painfully) guide us back into His ways.

God is patient with us because He loves us, but He has no tolerance for the presence of sin in our life because sin does not glorify God and does not bring blessing into us.