ONE MAN'S SELF-CONTROL:

I want to brag on my dad. He has made a courageous display of self-control that I think would be good for my brothers and sisters in Christ to read. So I’m going to tell you one story so I can tell you another one. And then I’m going to spiritualize it.

Dad is 62 years old. He is a well-decorated VietNam veteran of the United States Army. He earned a Bronze Star for his courage in saving a wounded soldier under heavy gunfire, and two Purple Hearts for each of the instances in which he was injured in battle.

But that’s only the backdrop of the man I want to brag about today. My dad started smoking, as most did then, when he was about 15 years old. You can do the math, but in short he has smoked all of his adult life.

That is, up until February 2009.

Dad tried to quit smoking many times over the years. I think our entire family lost count around time number 437. But bless his heart, he kept trying. Over the years, he’s had two arterial replacement surgeries in both legs because the ingredients of the cigarettes have diminished his circulation and overall health. The doctor told him a couple years ago that if he didn’t quit smoking immediately, there’d be nothing he could do to help my dad the next time he was hospitalized.

February 2009 marked the final beginning of dad’s smoke-free effort. He used a powerful prescription drug to help wean him off the withdrawals, and the last time he took a drag off a cigarette was my birthday, February 2009.

This February marked 1 year of dad being smoke free! I’m so freakin’ proud of him right now, I’m getting goose bumps thinking about it. But I didn’t know he was smoke free until my birthday this year when he told me he had been smoke free for the entire year!

Here’s what I really want you to know, though. Dad and I had a long talk about his most recent effort to quit smoking. Here’s the run-down of that conversation.

I asked, “Do you still crave cigarettes?”
“Oh yeah I do. Especially when I’m bowling and around other smokers.”
“So what has kept you from lighting up another one this year?” I asked.
“Because I know the consequences if I do. I know that if I smoke just one cigarette, I’ll relapse back to square one…and I worked way too hard to give that up. I also know that if something else happens to me, I may lose my legs.”

While it was a strong drug that helped dad overcome the initial elements of his addiction and withdrawal symptoms, it was his self-control (I’d suggest by the power of God’s Spirit) that has kept him where he is today. He never said the urge was taken from him, but is still very much alive. Today, he fights a different battle than one thousands of miles away in a distant land. He battles temptation, and he still must say no every time they surface. He knows that temptation will come eventually, if not daily.

The bible tells us that a proud heart precedes a fall. Just when you think you’ve got your troubles licked, you fall to them when you least expect it. The absence of temptation is often as deceptive as the temptation itself, for it often lulls us into a false sense of security.

Maybe your temptation is lust or porn, like me. Maybe it’s food. Maybe it’s alcohol, drugs, or cigarettes. Maybe it’s gossip or slander. Maybe it’s greed. Maybe it’s anger and rage. But, whatever the case, may this story inspire and encourage you.

Be on guard!

Be alert!

Be self-controlled!