Dear Sister,
I want to share three different scenarios that I have recently experienced. First Scenario: There it was, fit for a king…edible artwork! Surrounding a sculpture of ice lay scrumptious samplings causing my glands to salivate. My husband was deployed, it was my 35th birthday (but nobody knew it), and I had been asked to brunch with friends to welcome a new chaplain on island. My unsatisfied cereal fed belly begged for this wealth of art and calories.
Second Scenario: I was showered, made up, and ready to go to church. I picked up a just-cleaned Annabelle only to be greeted with projectile chunky milk (and a smile). Then as I changed her, she promptly released her day old clogged intestine. Now we were late, stinky and my patience was thin.
Third Scenario: My blistered and dry fingertips ached all day, my bunion was acting up again, and then I found gum attached to my freshly cleaned clothes due to its well placed hiding spot in a pocket. My husband comes home late, Annabelle is fussy, I’m hungry, and complaints are brimming and boiling black as a witch’s cauldron.
Self-control, Huh? I really think that is a misnomer. There is no way that I can control myself in any of the above situations or the ones that jump in your mind as you read this. On our own, we can never control ourselves. I can eat till I burst, complain until those around me melt, and yell at an unknowing child as easy as taking a breath. It comes natural enough, doesn’t it? The thing is, my actions need to be controlled by the Spirit, not by myself. Without the Spirit, sister, I have found that it is impossible for me to ever control myself.
The Bible charges us to be self-controlled. In fact, it is one of the attributes of the fruit of the Spirit. But here is the problem: I fall short of this standard, we all do. Yet the beauty of this failure is that it demonstrates once again that we desperately need a savior, someone that can save us from missing the mark of perfect self-control…again and again.
We must remember that Jesus was the only man ever to control himself perfectly. He controlled his eating, drinking, anger, annoyance, and frustration perfectly! Can you imagine that sweet sister? Yeah, me neither. The amazing thing is that Jesus, who is not only our perfect example of self-control, paid the price for our lack of self-control. He died and rose again to forgive us of our failures of controlling ourselves. Not only that, but he died and rose again to impute his perfect self-control in us.
Where does that leave us when we face a buffet, frustration at our children, a tongue that wants to unleash gossip or guile, and creeping anger at our husbands? Our practical tools of counting, stepping away, or only filling our plate once are helpful for a moment, but they must be rooted in the gospel if true change is to happen. Ultimate self-control is Spirit-controlled. Spirit control is being so occupied with what God is doing that nothing else gets in the way. Like a runner being so focused on the finish line that she is unaware of the street lined with a clamoring crowd. True self-control, Spirit-controlled, is being so satisfied with all that we have in Christ and being so busy about living for his Kingdom that we become unaware of our clamoring selfish desires. So let us strive for self-control, but let that control be genuinely led by His Spirit.
Blessings from Japan,
Colleen