and a slow temper—makrothymia means a slow fuse.17 This sort of patience involves putting up with life’s irritations and the irritable habits of fellow believers. “For the believer, patience is that cautious endurance that does not abandon hope.”18 Notice that this advice is given to Christians about their relationships with other Christians. The text says “put up with one another in love.” Paul is not a naive idealist and does not assume that everyone in the body of Christ will naturally get along