Self-Control

A few weeks ago, I was shopping at Wal Mart. To be specific, it was a Saturday, near the first of the month, and I had my 4 year old with me. I had managed to navigate through the store with out losing my temper or my sanity. Then, it was time to find a checkout line. All the lines were 7 - 10 buggies deep. (Seriously, no exageration.) I was stopped considering which line to get in, when I heard a manager tell a checker to open line 9. Of course, I followed her. By the time I maneuvered through all the other shoppers, only 1 person was in front of me in line. I was pleased with my spot in line. Then a lady pushed her over loaded buggy in front of mine. She nearly ran over my daughter in the process of securing her spot in line. I was more than a little aggrevated, but chose to not say anything. The lady then yelled across the store to her mother to join her in line. Her mother came over in her hover-round, pushed my buggy back and preceded to take her place in line. In a matter of seconds, I went from second in line to fourth. At this point, I was beyond angry, venom was rising inside of me. Then to make things worse, the mom turns around and thanks me for allowing them to break in line. Knowing that my daughter was watching me (and who knows who else), I chose to just smile. I knew if I opened my mouth, it would not be nice.

In the meantime, I noticed that a manager was about to open register 10. I decided not to move because about half a dozen other people were noticing as well. Just as quickly as he turned on the light to open the register, he turned it off again. I quit watching, and continued waiting in line. The next thing I knew, this young manager had his hand on my buggy and was leading me to the front of the line at register 10. That my friends is the favor of God. Because I chose to exercise self control, God rewarded me. We may not always receive instant rewards. But be assured, when we allow the Spirit to influence our choices, God is pleased.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such there is no law. Galations 5:22-23