It was 28 years ago when I first learned of the nine Fruits of the Spirit from a youth pastor who worked diligently to root the kids in my youth group deeply in the Christian faith. Not only did I find him inspiring but I thought he was cool because he was a bit of a renegade. As the story goes he had left for college with the intention of being a physicist, only to run smack dab into the wondrous life of Christ. So profound was his experience that he envisioned not a lab or a classroom, but daily interaction with people as they sought to incorporate faith into their everyday lives.
I am forever grateful for the courage Daryl displayed when he stepped onto a path he understood God had set for him but one his parents initially questioned. That choice has opened the world of faith to countless numbers of people from that moment to today.
And for those of us who were mere babes in the faith, Daryl made it a point to identify the Fruits of the Spirit so we could begin to observe God’s work in our daily lives. He wanted us to understand that fruits are evidence of a life lived in faith. They are also behaviors we could choose. During the volatile years of our youth such guidelines proved especially helpful.
Today we are still investigating the fruits and the last one on the list is self-control. I am always a bit surprised at the practical nature of this fruit; it hardly seems religious at all. It conjures in my mind those days in grade school when teachers reminded us on a regular basis to be quiet during assemblies and to keep our hands to ourselves while waiting in the lunch line. It reminds me of the day my third grade teacher, in a moment of pure frustration and absolutely no self-control, blurted out to the queen of talkers in the class, “Barry, you have diarrhea of the mouth. Now close it — it stinks in here!”
Over the years, as I have observed the various ways people model self-control, I have come to associate this practical fruit with class and grace. Such has been the case this week at the Winter Olympics competition in Salt Lake City as fury over the pairs figure skating competition grows. It seems questions of improper judging now center on French judge Marie Reine Le Gougne, who announced at a routine, post-competition judges’ meeting Tuesday that she voted for the Russian pairs figure skating team because she had been pressured to do so by the French figure skating association. The head of the French Olympic team later confirmed that the French judge was pressured to “act in a certain way” before she voted to give the gold to the Russians. According to the French Olympic team head, Reine Le Gougne is honest but easily pressured by those with whom she works.
So where in this sordid story is the self-control? I watched it Monday evening as Russia’s Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze edged Canada’s Jamie Sale and David Pelletier 5-4 in the free skate. It played out as my own family room filled with comments reflecting shock and dismay. I even think I heard a certain roar of angst from our Canadian neighbors to our north! How dare the Russian pair accept their gold medals, knowing they did not earn them! How unfair that the talented young Canadians experience the height of ecstasy, only to experience such undeserved disappointment moments later in such a public manner. They had worked so hard. They had earned a gold medal.
It hurt to watch. And yet, as we observed them dry their tears and display gracious smiles without a single angry word, much less an angry look, their obvious disappointment and heartbreak was controlled. Their self-control took on a look of uncalculated beauty — in spite of it all.
Like many of the Fruits of the Spirit, self-control is learned when the fire is hot, life is pressure-filled, and we have been handed a tough situation with no forewarning. We choose self-control when we begin to trust that God understands our circumstances, has plans for us to grow, and has presented us with a golden opportunity to step away from unhealthy reactions that will only add insult and injury to everyone around us — especially ourselves. Self-control requires that we emotionally disengage from the small, momentary experience and think long term and global.
May we give credence to faith’s practical force in our lives and glide through the next week with grace.
Joan Bay Klope is a freelance writer and a former editor of Christian books. Contact her at jbklope@hotmail.com
