Don't Move!

Those two words can be the hardest to obey. Every week day now I go for radiation treatments. It is likely to have some side effects, but they are cumulative. Thus far, I do not notice them.  The actual radiation procedure is painless and relatively short. On the other hand, not moving for the twenty minutes that I am lying there is by far the hardest part. 

Whenever I am told not to move, I suddenly feel like I itch everywhere. A sneeze wants to come out. A cough begins in my throat. At first, the tendons in my shoulder would pulsate from not being accustomed to being in that position for that long, particularly after my surgery. I had to learn to control every reflex and natural impulse within me. The radiation is directed at where the cancer was in order to keep it from returning. It is an art to coordinate, because misdirection could negatively effect my heart or lungs. If I move, I mess up the art and subject my healthy organs to damage.  So self-control is very important in this phase of my treatment. 

Self-control. Such a yucky word these days. 

I saw a story on television last week about a man who was promoting non-monogamy. 

(Please stay with me, do not get hung up on this topic.)  I found it interesting that the television show followed that story with a conversation with their "marriage expert" to discuss the pros and cons of this man's theory. (I have to put quotes around that because the expert has only been married fourteen years. As we approach our eighteenth anniversary, I am more aware than ever that I am not an expert on marriage, but I digress.) The non-monogamist had stated that humans are not naturally wired to be monogamist. The expert made a point that I really appreciated. There are lots of things that we are not naturally wired to do, but as humans, we rise above that and practice self-control. 

We may not be wired to live in fidelity, but we do for the sake of love and respect for our spouse.

We are not naturally wired to eat with utensils, but we, in the Western world, do it anyway. 

We are not wired to wear clothes, but we do, some more than others.

We are not wired to control our tongue, but we....

Well we should. I should. 

James in his epistle tells us, "no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of a deadly poison."(3:8) 

If I can control my whole body's natural reflexes for the sake of my heart, why can I not control my tongue for the sake of someone else's heart? 

Self-control is a component of the fruit of the Spirit. In fact, it is listed last, maybe because it is the least attractive. All of the other components sound nice, but this one, not so much. However, as a component of the fruit of the Spirit, it is to be evident in the life of every believer, but it is only possible when we live by the Spirit.