Imagine you are playing your favorite video game, and you are super close to winning. Suddenly, your mom calls you to come eat dinner, or your brother accidentally unplugged the controller! You feel a big wave of anger bubbling up inside, and you just want to yell or throw the controller across the room. Controlling that sudden surge of emotions when things don’t go your way is super tough for all of us.
That is where a special superhero-like quality comes in called self-control. In the Bible, there was a guy named Samson who had actual super strength given to him by God. He was stronger than anyone on Earth! But even though Samson had huge muscles, he had a super big problem with self-control. He made foolish choices, broke his promises to God, and let his emotions boss him around. Samson learned the hard way that no matter how strong or smart you are, if you don’t have self-control, you are headed for trouble.
1 Timothy 4:8 Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and the life to come.
Self-control isn’t something you are just born with; it takes training, just like practicing for a sport or learning a new game. Training for godliness means practicing how to pause and make the right choice, even when you really want to throw a tantrum or do what feels easy. When you are tempted to say something mean to a friend, grab a toy without asking, or disobey your parents, you can ask the Holy Spirit to help you press the pause button on your feelings.
Next time you feel like blowing up or making a bad choice, try using the “Stop, Pray, Choose” trick. Stop for five seconds, ask Jesus to give you power to stay calm, and then choose the response that honors Him. Self-control is like a muscle that gets stronger every single time you exercise it! Let’s work on building our spiritual muscles this week so we can shine Jesus’ love to everyone around us.
Talk About It
- If you could have any super strength in the world, what would it be and what silly thing would you do with it?
- Who was the super-strong hero in our Bible lesson, and what verse reminded us that training for godliness is better than physical training?
- Parents, when you were kids, was it hard for you to show self-control, and what was a time you struggled with it?
- What is a situation at school, on the playground, or with siblings where showing self-control is super hard, and how can Jesus help us make the right choice?
- What is one practical way our family can practice the “Stop, Pray, Choose” rule together this week when we get frustrated?