Grace + Thankfulness = Self-Control

I like to think of myself as self-controlled, most times I am. But if you put a chocolate chip cookie in front of me, I will eat it. No self control there. I will eat my children’s last cookie, I will smack their hand away and say, “that’s daddy’s cookie”. It is a problem; I have no self control when it comes to chocolate chip cookies. It is easy to have self-control until you see something you want. If you struggle with bad habits, a rebellious spirit, if you are like me and you feel compelled to be selfish, there’s an app for that, it is called self control. Self control not only helps us say no to sin, but it also helps us say yes to what is good.

Paul said in Titus 2:11-12

“11 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.”NIV

Most of us struggle in that we often lack the self control to overcome temptation, we struggle to say no to sin. It is impossible to overcome sin by willpower alone, you can’t do it on your own; we must turn ourselves over to God’s will. By focusing on God’s grace we are reminded that God has always used His power to help us overcome sin. Some of us are great at saying no to sin, but we struggle to say yes to doing what is good; we struggle saying yes to opportunities to serve. We say yes to God when we focus on God’s loving grace. When we look for new ways to say thank you to Him, it makes it very difficult for us to ever tell Him “no”. Being thankful to God will not only compel us to have self control, it will compel us to living blessed lives that are eager to do what is good.