I stole this from Nancy Wilson...

but it was published in a public blog and I am not even attempting to take credit. So, hopefully that absolves me from any wrong doing, at least in this instance. I was reading her post on self control and it contained the following little nugget:

"Sometimes we don’t have self-control because we are not defining it biblically, but in a worldly way. We think that if we had self-control, we would all wear a size 6 and be in great shape because we were getting in an hour of exercise everyday after having our two-hour quiet time and a bowl of granola. And since very few of us attain to such things, we all think we are pretty pathetic, and we look with envy at the woman who is wearing the size 6, and think to ourselves, “If I only had self-control, I could look like that. But I don’t, so I am a big loser.” And then we go on to confess our lack of self-control, when what we should have been confessing was the envy, the discontent, the self-absorption, and the melodrama.

Self-control begins in the heart, and it works its way out in our thoughts, words, and actions. James says that if a man can control his tongue, he is perfect. The tongue is a pretty unruly animal and requires a strong hand. This is a great place for all women to begin to acquire self-control. We can begin by listening to ourselves. Do we need to tighten up? How do we talk to our husbands? Children? Do we confide too much in friends, and do we excuse one another for our indiscretion? If so, then we should pray for God to set a watch at the door of our lips and make restitution when we sin with our tongue. We easily excuse ourselves when we sin with our tongue, attributing to ourselves the best of motives. But we beat ourselves up for imaginary sins, like having chips with lunch. And you can confess false guilt all day long, and it does not go away."

Pretty good, huh?

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