I am currently on a diet healthy eating plan. I started it because, ladies who aren’t there yet, losing weight after 40 is MUCH harder than losing it before 40. And also because I’ve spent 40+ years avoiding exercise, vegetables and healthy foods, and my metabolism is finally saying “enough”! Because I want to be as healthy as I can be for as long as I can, I need to take better care of the body God has given me.

What’s interesting is that, as I am working to develop more self-control in one area of my life, God is showing me where I lack self-control in other areas, too. I’m realizing I spend WAY too much time on my phone, I speak without thinking, I act without thinking…

All of this reminds me of how important self-control is and how very deceptive our hearts and minds can be. We can sabotage ourselves, friends, thinking that we can do whatever “feels good.” For me, it feels good to eat cake and donuts, to sit on the couch, to respond without thinking, to spend hours on my phone. But none of those are beneficial. What’s beneficial is not all that enjoyable, frankly. I just don’t enjoy vegetables. I don’t enjoy exercise. I don’t enjoy leaving my phone behind. Ever.

BUT, as my friend and health coach keeps telling me, I will eventually start enjoying what I don’t enjoy. One day, she says, I’ll actually want these vegetables, the non-sugary foods, even the exercise. The key is retraining my body to want what I need. And, because I’ve spent decades in unhealthy training, this reprogramming takes time. Just wanting to change isn’t enough. I have to work at it.

Maybe your struggle today isn’t pursuing a healthy lifestyle. Maybe it’s being honest, being pure, choosing to use your words to build others up instead of tearing them down. Maybe it’s restoring broken relationships or maybe it’s overcoming laziness. We all have sinful patterns that weigh us down. But, if you are a Christian, you have the Holy Spirit living inside you. And one of His gifts is self-control. It’s IN us! We just need to ask Him to help us use it. It’s not a magic formula, but it is a promise. We can cling to God’s word, to truth, and reject the lies we feed ourselves – the lies that justify our sins, lies that make our desires our gods.

And as we pursue Truth, we’ll crave it more. Our sinful patterns will be disgusting to us. Pursuit of what is godly will bring us joy and life and fulfillment.

“Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control.” Prov. 25:28