Temperance

Part 1          Part 2           Part 3          Part 4          Part 5          Part 6

 
Imagine that you are riding in a vehicle, and cruising through southern Michigan…

This I have done many times, and while observing the landscape out of the window, I often take notice of a thin, rectangular, green road-sign for a small city… named Temperance.

A city less-frequented...

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I often chuckle and muse to myself (and occasionally out loud to those who may or may not understand) that very few people take that exit. Fewer people live there. Sometimes I facetiously urge the driver, “Let’s get off here!” and laugh as I quickly interject, “Oh, I’m sorry, you don’t wanna go there do you?”

It’s a fact… not many human beings can report temperance in all areas of life. When looking up the definition for temperance, I found 3 main definitions from Dictionary.com (my favorite).

     1. moderation or self-restraint in action, statement, etc.; self-control.

     2. habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion…

     3. total abstinence from alcoholic liquors.

There’s also an interesting word origin history if you care to see.

A Christian life is a life of temperance. Don’t tell me you are saved when you fly off the handle at the drop of a hat. Don’t tell me you are sanctified when you can’t control your appetite. And please don’t mock God’s divine grace by telling me you have no restraint for the substance of “spirits”.

Want bible? I am so glad that you do! Once again, I wouldn’t use so many scriptures and real life examples, but this topic needs thorough examination because there are so many offenders who try to justify themselves. Let’s look deep inside, you or I may be one of them.

We’ll start with a good ol’ Proverb…

Proverb 16:32 says, “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.”

So we see the value of temperance… The Proverb says that if you can control your temper (does that word look familiar?) you are better than the mighty.

If you can stop yourself from getting ugly when somebody does you wrong, you are better than the president! If you have control over your reactions when they cut that money you needed out of your paycheck, you’ve trumped those in control of your paycheck.

The Proverb says “slow to anger…” Why are we so quick to get out of sorts? Being slow to anger is a characteristic of God! Lord help us!

Then the Proverb contrasts a man who can rule his spirit with a man who can take a city.

Remember Alexander the Great? This man conquered the entire “then-known” world, but he couldn’t conquer a little bottle. Imagine him beheading warriors, slaughtering beasts, ransacking homes, pillaging villages, commanding commanders, and winning victory after victory, taking land after land. Then every night, after all of his exploits, getting absolutely thumped by a bit of wine, a taste of liquor. See him bowing low in obeisance to his lord.

This man was undefeated in battle! UNDEFEATED! Who else can claim that? But in what no army could do, intemperance prevailed. Alexander died a drunken sot, liver destroyed, and left all of his precious, glorious conquests for someone else to lose.

Not many people can take a city. I don’t know of anybody better than Alexander in that regard. But not many people are temperate either…

So we see the difficulty of temperance… Alexander was one of a kind, and I declare that a temperate person is in the same neighborhood.

Much, much more on this to come… I hope you aren’t weary with me already… if so, practice some temperance.

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