Self-Control?

If you look in my trash can at work this week, you will find about a billion tissues and 3 empty boxes of Girl Scout cookies. The tissues because I’ve been sick for a week, the Girl Scout cookies because I have no self-control.

If you look at my exercise calendar from this week you will find it blank, sitting under two more boxes of Girl Scout cookies. The blank exercise calendar because I have no self-control, the Girl Scout cookies, also because I have no self-control.  (I don’t actually have an exercise calendar).

If you look at my timesheet from this week, you’d see that I showed up for my 40 hours of work, because I thought it was important enough to exhibit some self control and show up to work. If you look at my checkbook from this month, you’d see that my bills are paid because I thought it was important enough to exhibit some self-control and pay my bills on time.

If you look at my devotional time this week, you’ll see that at the beginning of the week it was slim to none, and by the end of the week it was a lot more. Because I could feel that I was missing something from the Lord and decided it was time to exhibit some self-control.

As my week so clearly shows, our “self-control” is weak and unreliable at best. People spend years in therapy to try and develop better self-control. What we need is “God’s control.” What’s the first verse we all learn in Sunday school: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, Philippians 4:13”...I can hear the song in my head now...

We have a tendency to choose to exhibit self-control when we’re motivated enough-we show up to work to get paid, we pay our bills on time to avoid fees, we exercise to lose weight and stay healthy...but when it comes to other things we flail about and waver somewhere between commitment and excuses. Serving at church, that decadent slice of cheesecake, devotion time every day, Girl Scout cookies, spending time with our kids, controlling our anger...or lust or fear....

We cannot do it on our own. We’re hopeless when left to our own devices. This Sunday we celebrated Easter, when Christ rose from the dead, defeated death and sin, put the Devil in his place. THIS is our hope. Our hope is that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.

What are you relying on to strengthen you? Self-control? Having enough money in the bank? Raising “good” kids? Severing at church? Cultivating a happy marriage? Your job? All of these things aren’t necessarily bad, but they alone can’t strengthen us. 

Self-control gets us nowhere but shoulder deep into 5 boxes of Girl Scout cookies. Maybe Girl Scout cookies aren’t your weakness, and they certainly aren’t my only one, but I know you have one. Something you always seem to give in to. Because our strength is not enough. We need Christ’s strength. If we would stop beating ourselves up for not having enough self-control and surrender all control to God, we may find we’re not so weak after all.

Be strong this weekend,

Jill