Original Entry:
October 11, 2011
McMinnville, OR
Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who
lacks self-control. Proverbs 25:28
But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Galatians 5:22-23a
I remember going
through my dad’s trophy collection as a boy and reading his letters from
numerous NFL and Major league baseball teams.
Dad was a two sport athlete at Cal Poly SLO starting both ways in the football
team. In his prime he ran a 9.98 one
hundred yard dash and fourteen flat around the bases, which was faster than
anyone in all of baseball except Mickey Mantle.
Dad was a great
athlete.
Last week dad had a
stroke while visiting us in McMinnville when a blood vessel in the brain
collapsed due to systematic hypertension. At 69 dad is a Type-Two insulin
dependent diabetic, has a “flapper” foot due to nerve damage, has had one heart
attack, lives with a hernia in his belly button, and is now fighting to
overcome his latest issue, a stroke.
Sadly, all of the
above mentioned infirmities could have been avoided if dad practiced self
control in the areas of diet and exercise.
Dad has allowed the walls of self control to come down and with that,
the walls of his life.
Self control is a
public display of a life surrendered to the power of the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5:22-23a says, “But the fruit of the
spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness and self-control.”
Self control is a
wall, a guardrail. Self control builds a
guardrail around a man’s wife, his children, his integrity, his finances, his
health, and his God to name a few. A man must build his walls high. Those walls are built by a man who loves the
Lord and has seen the value in setting guard rails in place around the things
he values the most.
Life is not a
frivolous experience of gluttony and lasciviousness. Rather, it is a life of self control and
discipline. Is there an area in your
life where you have allowed the walls that guard you to be breached? Have you lowered the bar of discipline in
your life?
Look at your life
closely. Examine it. If your enemy, the Devil (1Peter 5:8), were to attack you, what wall would he climb
first? Where are your defenses weak and
your walls low?
