"For this reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." 2 Peter 5-8
Self-Control, whew that's a difficult one. It's the one thing that as an imperfect human being I lack greatly and that covers a broad range of areas in my life. I smoke, I consume some alcohol, I'm overweight, I cry for different reasons at the drop of a hate, I am quick to anger at different times, on different issues. I can't control my tongue and often say the wrong thing. It seems this may be something that you do learn in increasing measure with age, as long as you can identify that whatever it is that you have an impulse issue with is a problem that needs to be worked on. I am working on the food issue now. I've found that there's certain foods that adversely effect my body and therefore must be avoided. There's soda, I've quit drinking that even in the face of an obvious addiction. I'm working on smoking less, quitting eventually. Self-control, is keeping your house neat instead of flopping down in front of the tv, maybe filtering the types of shows you watch. Spending too much, using profanity, being lazy, working too hard, being too silent. These are all things that we can control ourselves. So what does the bible say about self-control. My favorite verse is this one; "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with temptation he also will provide a way of escape, that you will be able to endure it." 1 Corinthians 10-13. Training for a 5k, one cannot ignore this one; "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified." 1 Corinthians 9:24-27. Let us live our lives, striving to be better and resisting evil.
The desires of our fragile human bodies can lead to a "back sliding" if we have no self-control. So once we have begun to mastered self-control we must continue on, or persevere. I say begin because it's a never ending process. I am in the middle of several self-control projects. Very much like my craft hobbies, always starting one before finishing another while in the middle of a third and completing the fourth. It's definitely never boring, I often wonder if I have some ADD issues. No one says that you complete one virtue and move on to the next, for that would suggest that you could finish, and finishing would imply perfection which, as long as we inhabit earth we cannot have. Perseverance it is told leads to rewards in heaven. I think this is one of the hardest lessons to learn. To learn it you have to experience pain, persecution, and sometimes loneliness in your life. When I was down and felt like I was being kicked, bruised and beaten it was exhausting, and to hold on was, I thought, impossible. There was a moment where I gave up and turned from God, thinking I did nothing to deserve this, why was I enduring his wrath? Like Peter I took my eyes off God and immediately my solid footing disappeared and I found myself drowning. In hindsight, I had it wrong. God uses adversity to mold my character. Often to get weeds out of the garden we need to til the whole think up, strip it bare of every plant. Then we can sow our seeds in nurturing soil, free from those nutrient sucking weeds. He says, "lean not on your own understanding", so let me draw on the everlasting life giving words of the bible. "And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up." Galatians 6:9. And if we can learn perseverance "Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him." James 1:12.
So continue on learning, and with your struggles, knowing that He never leaves you. He never stops loving you. Just as those of you who are parents mold your own children, so he molds us. The glorious riches that await us in heaven come at a steep price, that we pay here on earth. Take heed my friends that even though we are his lambs, the evil one waits to try to lay waste upon the herd. "Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." 1 Peter 5:8
I leave this train of thought with a message to my "health" stars. So as they treat their bodies like temples they don't forget..."For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come." 1Timothy 4:8
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