Daily Devotional For Sunday, May 25, 2025
Good morning and it is Sunday. My favorite day of the week because many of God’s people intentionally choose to attend a worship service to praise the Lord. I realize that some of these go out of habit and some go to please someone else. Yes, I understand that people have their own style of worship such as Southern Gospel, hymns only, bluegrass, country, and contemporary. To me, it is not the genre or style of music that is the key, but the person’s heart and attitude that makes the difference.
We are well into the Memorial Day Weekend and I don’t know about you, but I unfortunately am a perfectionist. Yes, I said it and probably need to find a support group for people like me, but I probably would be too perfectionistic about it. HA. When I think of perfectionism, I think of the Apostle Paul’s words in Romans 7:14-15, “So, the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. (15) I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate” (NLT). Can anyone relate to this passage?
It is kind of like when you step on the scales to check your weight and you already know the scales are going to intentionally lie to you. They are going to reveal to you that not being conscious and controlling with your diet. This causes the scales to send alarms off and the weight gestapo police arrive and haul you away.. We all know we should exercise either by walking or going to the gym, but most do not. Instead, as we had more “furniture” to the house of ours called our body, we turn to doctors to give us meds and to help compensate for our lack of self-discipline.
Even though we make attempts, we find that we often “fall off the wagon” with our health and diet. Instead of eating more fruits, we eat more ice cream. Instead of getting adequate rest, we stay up all hours of the night. The irony is we have been guaranteed victory through Christ. The Apostle Paul wrote this in Romans 8:26, “For the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness” (NLT). Then Paul writes this in Romans 8:37, “Despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us” (NLT).
Yes, I understand the context for Paul is about spiritual battles. But dealing with our health, our weight, and our diet are not just physical struggles, they are spiritual also. The Bible says this in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, (20) for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body” (NLT). Our physical bodies are now the Temple of the Holy Spirit and this means we must be diligent to take care of it. God is not going to give us another body until heaven.
I do have a sweet tooth. I do love a bowl of chocolate ice cream every once in a while. Sugar is good to a point. I get more excited about ice cream than I do cutting up green peppers, carrots, cucumbers etc., for a late night snack. But at this stage of life and age of life, I am having to be more intentional about not adding more “rooms” to my temple to store more unnecessary “fat.” Proverbs 25:28 says, “A person without self-control is like a city with broken-down walls” (NLT). A city with broken down walls is vulnerable to be attacked and conquered. To say, “Well, I couldn’t help myself” is a lie of self-deception. Why? Look at 2 Timothy 1:7, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline” (NLT). This is a promise from God. It is not hyperbole or a future hope. It is a present reality.
In case you still doubt you have the gift of self-control, the Apostle Paul reaffirms this again in Galatians 5:22-23, “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, (23) gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” (NLT). So, for this Memorial Day Weekend, if you grill, make sure to grill yourself with moderation. This is the point of Proverbs 25:27a, “It’s not good to eat too much honey” (NLT).
Assignment: Just for self-evaluation, take this on-line self-discipline assessment quiz and see how you score. You can find it at this link: Self-Discipline Assessment Quiz. At the completion of the quiz, you will be asked for your name and email so they can send you the results. If you do the quiz, what did you learn about yourself? Where or what areas do you need to be more self-discipline? What Bible verses could you use to motivate you to do this?
Scripture To Meditate On: 1 Corinthians 9:25, “All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize” (NLT).
Prayer To Pray: “Lord, please cultivate in me an intentionality to be self-disciplined. I want to finish well for You. I do not want to be a slave to my urges, desires, passions and whims so that I never really do anything great for You and Your kingdom. Please grow the Fruit of the Spirit of self-control in my life. I love You Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!’’
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly