Out of Control?

Out of Control?

Wednesday, April 6, 2016
Jeff Lampl

 “Losing self-control leaves you as helpless as a city without a wall.” Proverbs 25:28 (CEV)

Did you know that there is a self-control app . . .

for your mobile device or PC?   There’s an app for everything else, why not self-control?   No more need for discipline, sacrifice, doing without, saying no, requiring yourself to exercise restraint, all that difficult character building stuff!   Just let your iphone do it for you!

Here’s a quote I read yesterday from an online forum about apps that you can use to control your use of apps!

“I used to use Antisocial, until I noticed today that it wasn't working when I habitually tried to go onto Facebook. I then tried to download other software to do the same job, including Self Control, and that isn't working either. I don't know what to do or how to fix it.”

What do you do when the self-control apps don’t work?   You’re stuck with yourself!

Here’s a definition of self-control I found on google (no more looking for the dictionary for me, awkwardly leafing through cumbersome pages, I have google!)

“Self-control is the ability to control one's emotions and behavior in the face of temptations and impulses . .(it) is a cognitive process that is necessary for regulating one's behavior in order to achieve goals”

So, we’ve got this free will problem.   We have free will because God has free will and humans are made in the image of God.  We also have free will because love can’t be reciprocated without it.   Puppets don’t love.   But I think there’s another reason for free will.  God put each of here to be loved and to be grown.   God’s plan for human beings in our short time on earth is to grow us up.   All the problems, temptations, options, pain, sources of immediate but not lasting gratifications are all tools in God’s hands to cause us to exercise the discipline to freely choose good things and freely reject bad things.

Each of us is being discipled daily by God and it’s the day to day stuff of life that is our training ground.  Each day we either make progress or we regress.   Every time I cave to a temptation, I’ve failed that part of my discipleship training for that day.   Every time I say no to a temptation, I’ve been trained and have grown into a higher level of becoming Christ-liike.

There’s no app for that!

Self-control matters. 

“Lord, I want to begin each day realizing that each part of each day matters.  With you at work within me today, I will say no to that which displeases you and is bad for me and others and I will say yes to the promptings you place in my mind, regardless of their degree of difficulty.  Amen”

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