Today's passage is Matthew 5:21-32.
Jesus tells us that anger and angry words are equal to murder. He tells us to reconcile quickly with our brothers and our adversaries. He says that looking at a woman lustfully is to commit adultery.
If our eye or hand causes us to sin, we need to cut it off rather than letting it take us to hell. To divorce our wives is to condemn them and their new husbands to adultery.
All of what Jesus talks about today is self-control.
It has taken me almost my whole life to understand that anger, lust, revenge, being right, and desire in general are all choices I make.
And self-control is a choice too. As Jesus tells me today, I risk hell by not exercising self-control.
I committed adultery three times.
Each time it was a confused mix of sexual desire and a desire for happiness.
Each time it caused big problems for me and others.
If I had exercised self-control, a lot of hurt would not have happened.
What is self-control?
It's resisting instant gratification for the longer term and greater good.
It's thoughtful delay of action or speech. I don't have much.
But I am called by God to have a lot as an adopted son of God, a husband, father, mokja, school principal, traveler.
All of my roles, however temporary, call for divine self-control.
I need to exercise self-control because my life is not mine.
It''s God's and I am to live it for his purposes not mine.
As long as I remember that I am a steward of God, then I am able to exercise some self-control in what I do, say, and desire. Mostly I forget, though.
A small example.
God gave me my body to take care, which means eating properly not indulgently, exercising moderately not execessively and, within the limits of my circumstances, getting adequate sleep.
God needs my body for his purposes.
I have a serious back problem and God guided me to a blind chiropractor who has done wonders in restoring my spine and pelvis to good health.
He gave me a simple prescription to help me for the next few months: no exercise except walking and don't cross my legs when I sit.
I have been so delighted with the absence of back pain for the first time in 20 years that I have been following his prescription. But yesterday I didn't.
On a walk, I stopped to exercise on a set of parallel bars.
Even though I'm 63, I tend to think like I'm 23. So of course I hurt my back doing a maneuver on the bars.
I didn't exercise self-control.
I yielded to instant gratification of feeling my body respond to my childish desires.
I did not think about the long term.
I lost sight of my goal, the need for a healthy body to fulfill my obligations and serve God.
Application. Cut off the selfish, uncontrolled young man in my imagination and stay focused on my stewardship for the glory of God not me
