#96 - Kyle Thompson // God’s Attributes According to Himself: Slow to Anger & Lovingkindness

Summary

Podcast Title: The Daily Blade: Joby Martin & Kyle Thompson
Episode: #96 - Kyle Thompson // God’s Attributes According to Himself: Slow to Anger & Lovingkindness
Release Date: May 14, 2025

---

Introduction

In episode #96 of The Daily Blade, co-hosts Pastor Joby Martin of the Church of Eleven22 and Kyle Thompson of Undaunted.Life delve into the profound attributes of God as described in the Bible. This episode, titled "God’s Attributes According to Himself: Slow to Anger & Lovingkindness," focuses on understanding and applying these divine characteristics to everyday Christian living.

Exploring Exodus 34:6-7

Kyle Thompson anchors the discussion by examining Exodus 34:6-7 from the New American Standard Bible (1995 Edition). He emphasizes that within these verses, God articulates seven distinct attributes of Himself. While the previous episode covered "compassionate" and "gracious," today's focus shifts to “slow to anger” and “lovingkindness.”

1. God is Slow to Anger

Kyle begins by reflecting on his personal struggle with anger, humorously admitting, “I am kind of the furthest thing from slow to anger. I’m more like formula one anger or drag racer anger” (00:46). He shares his journey towards mastering patience, noting significant personal growth despite ongoing challenges.

Key Insights:

• Patience as Divine Attribute: Kyle explains that “slow to anger” essentially means that God is patient and long-suffering. He underscores God's immense patience with humanity, particularly the Israelites throughout Exodus.

• Application to Parenting: Kyle draws a parallel between God's patience and his responsibilities as a father. He confesses, “As a father of young boys...if they don’t do the thing I want, boom, like immediately. Sometimes my reaction can be overly harsh” (02:40). This realization compels him to extend the same patience to his children that God extends to him.

• Scriptural Reference: He cites Romans 2:4, stating, “Do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance” (03:15). This emphasizes that God's patience is intended to guide believers towards repentance and transformation.

2. God is Full of Lovingkindness

Transitioning to the second attribute, Kyle elaborates on "lovingkindness," derived from the Hebrew word hesed. He references Dr. Mark Hitchcock's teaching, which interprets hesed as "loyal love" or "stubborn love."

Key Insights:

• Definition and Depth: Kyle describes hesed as God's unwavering and persistent love, saying, “God loves us in a way that is infinitely more, more love and more patient than any person that you've ever met” (03:55). This highlights the boundless and enduring nature of divine love.

• Challenges in Human Relationships: He addresses the difficulty humans often face in loving those who are hard to love. Whether it be due to repeated mistakes, deceit, or intentional harm, Kyle acknowledges that emulating God's lovingkindness can be challenging.

• Scriptural Exhortations: To reinforce this attribute, Kyle references several passages:

  • Lamentations 3:22-23: “The Lord's loving kindness indeed never ceases, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness.”
  • Psalms 136:1: “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for his loving kindness is everlasting.”
  • Psalms 36:7: “How precious is your loving kindness, O God, and the children of men, take refuge in the shadow of your wings.”
  • Psalms 100:5: “For the Lord is good, his loving kindness is everlasting, and his faithfulness to all generations.”
  • Psalms 89:1-2: “I will sing of the loving kindness of the Lord forever to all generations. I will make known your faithfulness with my mouth. For I've said loving kindness will be built up forever in the heavens. You will establish your faithfulness.”
  • Psalms 143:8: “Let me hear your loving kindness in the morning, for I trust in you. Teach me the way in which I should walk for you, for to you I lift up my soul.”
  • Psalms 107:1: “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for his loving kindness is everlasting.”

These scriptures collectively underscore the perpetual and steadfast nature of God's lovingkindness, encouraging believers to emulate this trait in their interactions.

Conclusion and Practical Application

Kyle wraps up the discussion by reaffirming the importance of understanding and embodying God's attributes of being slow to anger and full of lovingkindness. He encourages listeners to reflect on these qualities and integrate them into their daily lives, fostering patience and unwavering love in their relationships.

Final Takeaway:

• Embracing God's Patience and Love: By recognizing and striving to mirror God's patience and lovingkindness, Christians can navigate personal challenges and relationships with greater grace and resilience.

Notable Quotes

• Kyle Thompson (00:46):
  "I'm kind of the furthest thing from slow to anger. I'm more like formula one anger or drag racer anger."

• Kyle Thompson (02:40):
  "As a father of young boys...if they don’t do the thing I want, boom, like immediately. Sometimes my reaction can be overly harsh."

• Kyle Thompson (03:15):
  "Do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance."

• Kyle Thompson (03:55):
  "God loves us in a way that is infinitely more, more love and more patient than any person that you've ever met."

Closing Remarks

Pastor Joby Martin concludes the episode by encouraging listeners to support the podcast by sharing it and leaving a five-star rating and review. He reiterates the mission to equip men for spiritual battles, inviting them to stay engaged and return for future episodes.

---

Join Us In Person:
Don’t miss the opportunity to connect with Pastor Joby and Kyle Thompson at the 2025 Men's Conference in Jacksonville, Florida. Reserve your seat today at mensconference.com.

---

This summary encapsulates the key discussions, insights, and applications from episode #96 of The Daily Blade. Whether you're a long-time listener or new to the show, understanding God's patience and lovingkindness can profoundly impact your spiritual journey and daily interactions.

Transcript

[A]

Welcome to the Daily Blade. The word of God is described as the sword of the spirit, the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil. Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson, and they stand ready to equip men for the fight. Let's sharpen up.

[B]

All right, guys, this week we're looking at Exodus 34, verses 6 and 7, where God describes his attributes. So let's go ahead and read Exodus 34, 6 and 7 in the New American Standard Bible, 1995 edition. Then the Lord passed in front of him, this is Moses. And proclaimed the Lord. The Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness and truth. Who keeps loving kindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin. Yet he will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations. So in these two verses, God describes seven distinct attributes of himself. Yesterday we discussed. We discussed two of the attributes. That's God is compassionate and God is gracious. Today we're going to focus on the next two. God is slow to anger and God's loving kindness. So I'm gonna go ahead and throw myself under the bus here with this one with the slow to anger thing, okay? So if there was like a drone that was like following me around, like doing like a live stream of me at different points in my life, even though I've matured and come a long way in my sanctification process, I. I'm kind of the furthest thing from slow to anger. I'm more. I more so have like formula one anger or like, you know, drag racer anger. It's just one of those things where something small, even something happen, but a lot of times something small and I will just shoot through the roof. Now, used to I would stay up in the stars, like with. In all my anger. But now I kind of come back down to earth pretty quickly. But this is just not something that's easy for me. And other ways to say this in terms of the context of this verse is that God is patient, okay? God is long suffering, okay? So think about how long he waits for all of us, right, us dumb sheep to get our crap together, okay? And just think about all the patience he's showing the Israelites throughout the entire book of Exodus. I mean, it's a tremendous amount of long suffering patience. And he just gives us chance after chance after chance. And this is actually convicting for me as A father of young boys. Because if they don't do the thing I want, boom, like immediately. Sometimes my reaction can be overly harsh. And I have to remember, wait, God was patient with me. I owe them patience. They're developing. They don't understand. I just need to give them a second. Right? And what is the point of God being slow to anger? It's cuz he wants us to repent, guys. So let's go to Romans 2, 4. Or do you think lightly of the riches of his kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? So think about that. But also, let's talk about God's loving kindness. So my pastor, Dr. Mark Hitchcock of Faith Bible Church in Edmond, Oklahoma, taught me that the word used here is the Hebrew word hesed, which can mean loyal love. And he even came across a definition of stubborn love. Okay, so again, go back to Exodus 34, verse 6. God is abounding in this loyal and stubborn love. And just think about the people that are in your life. And some of you have a bunch of these people, they're just really hard to love, that they don't give you a whole lot of opportunities to love them, right? So maybe they keep making the same mistakes. Maybe they've stolen from you, maybe they've lied to you, maybe they cheated on you. Maybe they just looked at you like you were a target. And just think about how hard it is to love those people. Like it's. It's really difficult. And God loves us in a way that is infinitely more, more love and more patient than any person that you've ever met that any of us have ever met, right? And look at what the writer of the book of Lamentations says in chapter three, verses 22 and 23. The Lord's loving kindness indeed never cease, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. And guys, the Psalms are just replete with more examples of God's loving kindness. Psalm 136, verse 1. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his loving kindness is everlasting. Psalm 36:7. How precious is your loving kindness, O God and the children of men, take refuge in the shadow of your wings. Psalm 100, verse 5. For the Lord is good, his loving kindness is everlasting, and his faithfulness to all generations. Psalm 89, verses 1 and 2. I will sing of the loving kindness of the Lord forever to all generations. I will make known your faithfulness with my mouth. For I've said loving kindness will be built up forever in the heavens. You will establish your faithfulness. Let's keep going. Psalm 143, verse 8 Let me hear your loving kindness in the morning, for I trust in you. Teach me the way in which I should walk for you, for to you I lift up my soul. And we'll do one more. Psalm 107, verse 1 oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for his loving kindness is everlasting. Guys, if you want to know the attributes of God, let's take him at his word. God is slow to anger and God is full of loving kindness. Keep that in mind today. Come back here tomorrow for more.

[A]

Thank you for listening to today's episode. Before you go, if you want to help, equip other men for the fight, share this podcast around and leave us a five star rating and review. Stay sharp.