Get Control of Yourself!!!

A couple of summers ago, while on my weekly sortie into Bigfork, I was reminded why I don't leave the house to go anywhere unless absolutely necessary-I was trapped in a traffic jam between cars in front of me waiting on a parking space and cars behind me trying to get out. When it became apparent I wasn't going anywhere for a while, I reminded myself that I was not in a hurry and put my truck in neutral to wait my turn to move. The man in the truck behind me apparently decided to take a different approach to the situation. The blaring noise of his horn seemed to have jumped right in my truck with me!

Without thinking, I was transformed…in the twinkling of an eye…from cool, calm and collected, to acting like Dennis Rodman! As I got out of my truck, I saw that the man in the truck behind me was not the agitated, impatient driver I expected…but a friend…laughing hysterically at my knee-jerk behavior. (I was unsuccessful in my attempts to convince him I was simply coming back to his truck to say hello.) Even to this day, he reminds me what a 'fine Christian example' I am!

Has this ever happened to you? Have you ever 'lost it' the way I did? What causes us to do this? Some would tell me, "Your emotional display obviously shows that you haven't given God control of your life! If you had, you wouldn't have this problem!" Is this true? Does God expect us to get up out of the cockpit of our lives and give Him the controls so He can fly us into Africa as meek missionaries, there to be eaten by cannibals?

Fortunately, it is not a matter of "Us versus God" when it comes to control! Paul clarifies this for us in his letter to the first century churches in Galatia:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

(Galatians 5:22-23 NIV)

In other words, God doesn't want to take the control of our lives away from us…He wants us to be self-controlled. Not only that, but He gives us self-control through His Holy Spirit to ensure our success.

So…what happened when I 'lost it' in the parking lot? Did I lose my self-control? Yes…but I didn't lose it when you might think…it was long before I hit the parking lot. Consider an analogy:

You forget about the groceries in your trunk; the standing rib roast for Saturday night is borderline rancid. You know you should throw it away, but you hate to think of wasting your favorite cut of meat. Against your own better judgment, you put it in the freezer. Saturday morning, you go to the freezer. Guess what you will probably find? You're right! Bad meat in…bad meat out. Our hearts are like your freezer…

Jesus said:

But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander.

(Matthew 15:18-19 NRSV)

Attempting to exercise self-control over what comes out is certainly commendable -but if it's already in your heart, Jesus said it's probably coming out anyway! A better approach to self-control is on the input side…controlling what goes in our heart and mind. King Solomon wrote in the Proverbs:

Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

(Proverbs 4:23 NRSV)

Paul reinforced the input aspect of self-control…first concerning what not to put in our heart:

For the grace of God that brings salvation…teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age

(Titus 2:11-12 NIV)

…then concerning what to put in our heart instead.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.

(Philippians 4:8 NIV)

So! What happened to me in the parking lot? Some rancid meat fell out of the freezer!