Self-Control

𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗖𝗧

Time to play Statue Dance!
● Play some dance music and let everybody dance
● Pause the music, the kids should also pause mid-dance and freeze like statues
● Count to 10, kids who moved during this phase are eliminated from the game. If no one moved, continue playing the music.
● Repeat the sequence until the last player is left standing and declared the winner!

That was a fun way of testing how we can control our movements. Now, let’s check what the Bible says about self-control.

𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗗

James 1:19-21

19 𝘔𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴: 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯, 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘺, 20 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴. 21 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦, 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶.

The Bible teaches us to practice self-control through 3 things: to listen attentively, to take time to review what we say before actually saying them and to not let our anger get ahead of us. Anger is one of the emotions that many of us find hard to control. The moment we let our anger rule over us, we end up saying things we do not mean and may regret later on, and it may also lead us to sin. But most of all, anger produces roots in our hearts that do not honor God because they lead to people hurting each other.

𝗛𝗨𝗗𝗗𝗟𝗘

Parent to Kid/s:
2-6 years old
● What do you do when you get angry? Do you think this pleases God?

7-12 years old
● How quick are you to react negatively (be angry) towards a situation? Do you think this is pleasing to God?
● Why do you need to practice self-control? What would happen if you are short tempered all the time?

Kid/s to Parent:
● How can we be ‘slow to anger’ in difficult situations?
● What are some ways we can do in order to control our anger?

Having self-control not only keeps us from sinning, it preserves our lives as well. It keeps us from hurting others with our words or actions. As we learn to control ourselves, especially our anger, we learn to trust God more.

𝗣𝗥𝗔𝗬

Dear Jesus,

Please help us practice self control. Help us to listen carefully before reacting, help us value relationships over proving who is right or wrong. Help us to trust you, in Jesus’ name,

Amen!

𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗖𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥

Do you know that a study has shown that people with self-control are happier than those who cannot control themselves?

A study has shown that self-control and satisfaction in life are linked. When you have self-control, you may not always get what you want or have your way but it just means that your personal satisfaction is not dependent on just those things. You get satisfaction from a lot of other things!

Makes sense? Think about this the next time you feel your temper rising.

𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦: 𝘩𝘵𝘵𝘱𝘴://𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘥.𝘤𝘰/2013/12/30/8-𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘴-𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵-𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭/