The Importance of Self Control
{For Monday 9/25/06}
Notice to all you Reality Check readers: This post is actually from yesterday. I apologize for not posting it on the blog. Yesterday. I am sorry for any inconvenience that this might have caused.
The Book of Proverbs
Proverbs Chapter 25
Scripture=Proverbs 25:28
A person without self-control is like a house with its doors and windows knocked out.
Observation and Applications=
Have you ever been in a neighborhood where there were houses that had the windows broken out and the doors were missing or boarded up? I worked construction in New York City for a period of time and I have seen many homes in such a condition.
Usually when a home has no windows and doors it is a sign that something bad has happened. Many times it indicates that a fire or some kind of severe damage has taken place. Sometimes it means that the house was a crack house or a place where people met to use some form of drugs. The one thing it always means is that the house is no longer a place for people to live in safety or comfort. The only time anyone would live in such a place would be if they are homeless or transient.
Solomon writes that a person with no self control is like one of these types of houses. A lack of self control can mean that something has happened in someone's life that has caused some sort of catastrophe. They cannot cope in a normal fashion. Their life doesn't have normal boundaries or restraints. When we live in excess without checks and balances our emotions and our bodies cannot function in the manner they were created to. Life as it was intended to be begins to break down. Our health deteriorates and our bodily functions begin to malfunction and then shut down.
When a house has no windows or doors there is no measure of safety available. The elements are able to come in at will. Intruders have no barriers to impede them or keep them out. The house cannot be easily protected.
A person who lives without self control is like this house. There are no normal barriers to protect the person from excess at all! This could be talking too much, eating too much, sleeping too much, etc. etc. etc. In fact this list is endless. Self control is a protection.
What areas of self control are lacking in your life today? Where do you live in a 'too much' mentality? With the Holy Spirit speaking to us we can be assured that we will know when we are beginning to smash our windows and break down the doors of our lives.
Prayer= Lord, I thank you for your Holy Spirit that directs me and notifies me when I am not responding to his notification of my lack of self control. I want to allow you to direct my life.
Notice to all you Reality Check readers: This post is actually from yesterday. I apologize for not posting it on the blog. Yesterday. I am sorry for any inconvenience that this might have caused.
The Book of Proverbs
Proverbs Chapter 25
Scripture=Proverbs 25:28
A person without self-control is like a house with its doors and windows knocked out.
Observation and Applications=
Have you ever been in a neighborhood where there were houses that had the windows broken out and the doors were missing or boarded up? I worked construction in New York City for a period of time and I have seen many homes in such a condition.
Usually when a home has no windows and doors it is a sign that something bad has happened. Many times it indicates that a fire or some kind of severe damage has taken place. Sometimes it means that the house was a crack house or a place where people met to use some form of drugs. The one thing it always means is that the house is no longer a place for people to live in safety or comfort. The only time anyone would live in such a place would be if they are homeless or transient.
Solomon writes that a person with no self control is like one of these types of houses. A lack of self control can mean that something has happened in someone's life that has caused some sort of catastrophe. They cannot cope in a normal fashion. Their life doesn't have normal boundaries or restraints. When we live in excess without checks and balances our emotions and our bodies cannot function in the manner they were created to. Life as it was intended to be begins to break down. Our health deteriorates and our bodily functions begin to malfunction and then shut down.
When a house has no windows or doors there is no measure of safety available. The elements are able to come in at will. Intruders have no barriers to impede them or keep them out. The house cannot be easily protected.
A person who lives without self control is like this house. There are no normal barriers to protect the person from excess at all! This could be talking too much, eating too much, sleeping too much, etc. etc. etc. In fact this list is endless. Self control is a protection.
What areas of self control are lacking in your life today? Where do you live in a 'too much' mentality? With the Holy Spirit speaking to us we can be assured that we will know when we are beginning to smash our windows and break down the doors of our lives.
Prayer= Lord, I thank you for your Holy Spirit that directs me and notifies me when I am not responding to his notification of my lack of self control. I want to allow you to direct my life.
