THINK TOGETHER.
Are you self-controlled or out of control?
READ TOGETHER
Proverbs 16:32. Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city. (NIV)
There have been lots of great warriors throughout history. Have you ever learned about Genghis Khan or Alexander the Great? These warriors controlled huge empires by force, but they couldn’t control their own life. They didn’t have self-control.
Do you know what self-control is? It is having control over your emotions, your feelings, and also your choices. A little baby has no self-control. They can’t control their feelings or choices, can they? But you should be gaining more and more self-control. Patience should be winning over anger or tantrums. Asking politely should be winning over yelling or whining. Sharing should be winning over selfishness.
You are growing up in a world that doesn’t value self-control very much. The world will tell you that you should have whatever you want, whenever you want it. People who say things without thinking are considered “authentic.” People who live however they want are called “courageous.” People who express all their feelings are considered “true to themselves.” But none of this is self-control. And none of it brings about God’s goodness and love.
In the New Testament the Apostle Paul says that self-control is a “fruit of the Spirit.” That means that it is the Holy Spirit living inside of us that gives us the self-control we need to keep track of how we feel and how we act. If you have Jesus, you have his very own self-control. How did Jesus have self-control? By trusting and following everything God told him to do. He didn’t do or say whatever he wanted. His self-control meant that he was controlled by what God wanted. And that is true for us too. Let Jesus control you, and you will have self-control.
Because of Jesus we are controlled by God.
With Jesus we can control our feelings and actions.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
Watch the movie Kung Fu Panda together. Po had to learn self-control. He did it by realizing he already had it inside himself. With Jesus this is true for us too. But it is not our own power that is in us, but the power of God’s love.
PRAY TOGETHER
Jesus, self-control is hard for me. Help me to submit to you and all that you would want me to feel, do, and say. Show me the way to live. Amen.
TLICfamily 