It's the end of the world as we know it!

     Outside my office is a cute little candy dispenser that my assistant fills with gourmet jelly beans.  Every single time I walk into my office I swear I hear it call my name.  My response is always the same, "Ah its just a handful of jelly beans, why not."  Well doing that once a day isn't a big deal, but ten times a day is a constant reminder of my lack of self-control.
     I was reading in Titus this morning: "Teach the older men to exercise self-control, to be worthy of respect, and to live wisely.  They must have sound faith and be filled with love and patience."
     Imagine what our world would look like if we simply lived out those two sentences.  Ok, not even the entire two sentences, just two words: self-control.  In one sense it would be almost apocalyptical.  Imagine the industries and businesses that would have to close their doors because people were no longer buying things that they didn't need.  Imagine all of the police officers that would be out of work because no one was committing any crimes.  Imagine all of the politicians, without a job, because the government would no longer be needed.  Actually, I really like the sound of that last one.
     Think about it, every negative thing in our society comes back to a lack of personal self-control.  Unfortunately, we don't promote the value of self-control in our culture.  In fact, we revel in self-indulgence.  That is what nearly every movie, magazine, or commercial is about.  We teach our kids to "say no to drugs" but basically we communicate, "say yes to everything else."
     Even in Christianity, we don't promote self-control.  We write books about how YOU can have your best life now, and how every day can be a Friday.  We say give, stretch your faith, and dream about what God can bless YOU with.  We don't talk much about Christ's command "Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me."  Of course we don't.  You will never get on TBN or the New York Times best seller list with that kind of a message.
     But let's face it, that is exactly the kind of people we want to be around.  We want our boss to have self-control.  We want our kids to have self-control.  We definitely want our spouse to have self-control!
     I leave you with the words of the great 21st century philosopher Michael Jackson: "I'm starting with the man in the mirror."   I am striving by the power of God's spirit that lives in me to model self-control to all of those around me.  I know that I have a long way to go, but the journey of a 1,000 miles is taken one step at a time.  Listen to what else Paul had to say to Titus "And you yourself must be an example to them by doing good works of every kind.  Let everything you do reflect the integrity and seriousness of your teaching."