Skip to main content

Self-Control

             Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control. (Proverbs 25:28)

Today’s thoughts follow along with those of July 21. When I consider the role of self-control in my life, I tend to see two possibilities. Either I am in absolute control over the every detail of everything I do or I am completely out of control. It’s a false dichotomy. And, of course, the reality is that, generally, no one else makes me do the things I do. I eat things I don’t need to eat and shouldn’t. I spend money on things I don’t need and shouldn’t get. I fail to pick up and put away all the stuff that clutters my house. The choices are mine. They might not be entirely conscious and volitional, but they’re mine.

But when we talk about self-control, we are discussing the effective choices we consciously make. Self-control means not doing things we decide not to do, and doing things we decide to. But it really means more than that. It means being the kind of person who does the things he/she decides and does not do the things he/she decides not to do. Consistently. There may be some instances of Herculean feats, but more often, he/she just does it.

It is the self-control that we develop in daily life that makes the big challenges possible. If we lack it, we have no defenses against being marauded by everyone and everything in life, because our boundaries/walls are broken.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Shepherd!

                 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep . (John 10:14) God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” (Genesis 3:14) The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths     for his name’s sake. Even though I walk     through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil,     for you are with me; your rod and your staff,     they comfort me. (Psalm 23:1-4) For the Jews, it was politically incorrect to make claims about yourself as a teacher (or possibly as anything else.) Teachers were expected to take pride in the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more