His Control Is Our Best Self-control

Happy weekend!

Does anybody else find that it’s hard to have self-control? It’s so easy to be emotional and let your mood flip on a dime because of something someone said to you or did, but that is not what God calls for us to do. God wants us to control ourselves, He wants us to react in a joy filled way.

The world is quick to anger, but we shouldn’t be. The reason why we shouldn’t be quick to anger, is because it’s a disrespect to God to grumble at what He has set before us. I understand that it’s hard to resist being upset, but that’s because our flesh is weak, we need to focus on Him in order to not fall into what we shouldn’t.

There are so many bad things that we are upset about, but we need to stop lashing out. I know that it’s bad to bottle things up, but it’s also bad to let yourself fall into reaction.

I could scream and get upset that COVID-19 canceled my plans, or I could be glad that I have more time that I could spend with God. There is always a silver lining, we just need to take the moment to look, before we mess up and lose ourselves in what has happened to us.

It’s hard to control our reactions because the culture of this world is constantly moving, which prevents us from having the time it takes to think before we react. It’s easy to just give a quick flippant response, but we need to stop and take the time to care about what we say and do, afterall speaking is just another action.

The time it takes to pause is less than the time it takes to make up for your actions. Take the time to sort out what you want to say, so that you don’t make a huge mistake by telling somebody something that you’ll regret.

Scripture is the only way I can remind myself to stop before I get upset. Any medium that I fill myself with must be filled with Christ in order for me to remember to control myself. Christ is our best defense against being reactive.

Reaction is poisonous, because it doesn’t take into account anything, not anybody’s feelings, not what it will cause, reaction does nothing but blows off steam and harms those who hear it. Reaction leads to more reactions, breaking the cycle is something rare, but powerful, it’s surprising to see and therefore impactful. Let’s impact people by not doing something, it’s really important to avoid and can help others to change their behaviors as well.

Every time we choose to smile and say something positive, we put a smile on God’s face. The anger and hatred brings disappointment. Take the time to think and realize that you are alive and that you have God, which is more than a lot of people.

When we stop trying to control our lives we have the best kind of self-control, because we realize that He is in control. Self-control is most easily remedied with realizing that God is the one that is over and above everything in our lives.

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Prayer:

Lord, thank You for every moment that we get to spend on this earth. Lord, thank You for the people that you have set before us. Thank You for having it all under control.

It is amazing to know that I don't need to have it all figured out, that You have it figured out instead. Lord, please help us to grow in our faith. Please help us to stop and think before we take our next breath. Help us to make pausing a habit, so that we can consider everything we do and measure it against Your standards.

Lord, Your ways are higher. Please help us to follow Your example and lead others by doing so. Lord, You have given so much to us, thank You for doing so. You know the best things for us, so please help us to realize this before we lash out.

Thank You for everything that You have done for us and will do for us. In Your name, Amen.