| The Beauty of Self Control |
Chapter 1 |
Page 2 |
Self control is one of the finest things in any life. It is not a single element in character, but something that has to do with all the element. It binds them all together in one. In one of St. Paul’s clusters of the qualities of a noble character, he names love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, ending with self control. Self control is self mastery. It is kingship over all life. At the centre of your being sits yourself. Your seat ought to be a throne. If you are not in control, if there are any forces in your nature that are unruly, that do not acknowledge your sway, you are not the king you should be. Part of your kingdom is in insurrection. The strength of your life is divided. The strong man is he whose whole being is subject to him.
Perfect self control is ideal life. You are like a man driving a team of spirited horses. So long as he sits on the driver’s set and the horses obey him implicitly, acknowledging the slightest pressure upon the reins, all is well. But if the animals become restive, begin to champ on the bits, and cease to obey the driver’s impulse, and then dash away from his guidance, he has lost his control. A man has self control when he sits in his place and has his hands on all the reins of his life. His is kingly when he has complete master of his temper, his speech, his feelings, his appetites; when he can be quiet under injury and wrong, hurt to the quick but showing no sign, patient and still under severe provocation; when he can stand amid temptations and not yield to them.
A man when insulted may break out into a passion of anger, and become a very “son of thunder” in the vehemence of his rage. But that is not strength. The man who when treated unjustly remains silent, answers not a word, with cheeks white, yet restraining himself, showing no resentment, but keeping love in his heart, is the strong man. The Wise Man puts it thus:
“He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit, than he that taketh a city.”
Page 2