Note 6 at Ro 15:4: All the Old Testament scriptures were written for our instruction so that we would not make the same mistakes. If we do not heed the lessons of the Old Testament, we are trying to reinvent the wheel. People have already made mistakes, and the Old Testament scriptures were faithful to report the consequences of those sins. We don't have to learn the same lessons by "hard knocks." We can learn at their expense instead of our own.

Note 7 at Ro 15:4: Patience, comfort, and hope do not come to us by begging and pleading with God. We cannot have a lasting measure of these things just by having others lay hands on us. These things come through the Scriptures (see note 12 at Ro 8:24 and note 13 at Ro 8:25)

Some people have also mistakenly thought that problems produced patience because of a misunderstanding of scriptures like Ro 5:3 and Jas 1:3. However, this verse makes it clear that patience is a product of the Scriptures. If tribulations produced patience, every Christian would be patient. Everyone has experienced tribulation.

Patience comes through God's Word, but problems cause us to exercise or use our patience and thereby become stronger (see note 8 at Ro 5:3).