Do you ever find yourself caught in one of those moments where you know beyond the shadow of a doubt that if you didn't have the help of the Holy Spirit, you would absolutely explode in anger? Like, when your three year old grabs the new super size ketchup out of the pantry (even though the old one isn't empty) and then proceeds to drop it on the floor because its too heavy and ketchup begins to quickly seep out of the giant crack in the bottle? Or maybe your kids have emptied all the toy bins in the basement just a day after you've brought order to that particular hurricane zone. Oh yeah, let's not forget the bleach incident - "Mom, I think I spilled a little bleach while I was doing the laundry, but don't worry, it was just over my light wash." Okay, let me ask you what I asked him, are jeans really considered lights? Well, now his are!
I must admit that even with the help of the Holy Spirit, I don't usually react in a completely calm way, but neither do I explode like I know I am thoroughly capable of doing!
In Titus 2, another one of those seven characteristics of a godly woman is to be self controlled. The only way that I know of for a mother to be self controlled is to rely on the Holy Spirit to help her! I know I can't do it by myself.
Being self controlled involves much more that just controlling your anger though. What about over indulging when you feel overwhelmed with all that being a mom involves? "It's been such a hard day. I deserve a pint of Ben and Jerry's." Or what about controlling our shopping habits? "I can pay off that new outfit I bought in just a few weeks. I needed to feel good about the way I look." How about giving in to P.M.S. or other emotional downfalls caused by hormones? Are we not supposed to be filled with the Spirit at all times?
We as women tend to blame our wrong attitudes or our irrational display of emotions on being women. How come we try and excuse these things instead of crying out to God to help us overcome them? If we have given our lives to Jesus, then we need to allow Him to work in our lives to help us to continually live out the "gentle and quiet spirit" that He desires us to have.
Elisabeth Elliot once said, "We cannot give ourselves to God, and keep our bodies for ourselves."
How true this is! Our bodies are the dwelling place of God Almighty. How I long to make it a desirable place for Him to be!
2 comments:
Amen! Great thoughts. :)
Thank you for a much needed reminder: I need the help of the Holy Spirit to be self-controlled. I was away for two days this week, and you would think the break would have resulted in more patience toward my children. Nah. I blew it miserably yesterday. Thank you for reminding me about the importance of self-control, as well as its source.
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