#$%*# Giving It Up

Now that Fat Tuesday has come and gone, it is not uncommon that some Christian churchgoers observe the season of Lent before we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Observing Lent is especially common in the Catholic Church, but also with those protestant Christians looking to get in touch with the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross as they themselves give up sweets, sodas, TV and other pleasures. As we think about these things, we are suppose to pray and thank God for His sacrifice, and remember that Jesus is our ultimate pleasure, and should be our ultimate desire.

Lent is also a time that some choose to give up either guilty pleasures and bad habits as they remember that Jesus is sufficient for all of their needs and wants. I have participated in a myriad of ways over the years, but this year I am giving up fowl language. I don't tend to cuss much around anyone except myself and my God who is everywhere. In my early childhood I had a temper that would embarrass any mother, and I have learned to control those fits. I get mad the most when I can't do what I perceive is a simple task. Unfortunately this usually involves a sport or game that I love to play, but is not exclusive to the two.

Our Pastor Pete asked us several months ago in his Sunday Sermon, how does the Devil try to lie to you, and how is he winning in your life. The answer to this question for me is two-fold:

1. He tells me if I can't do something easy, I am an idiot
2. He tells me that if I were better, I wouldn't have these problem

"These problems" translate to be an task I am unable to perform, or any hangup I might be facing. My frustration starts to eat me from the inside, and typically I respond the way many people do with a collage of inappropriate words. The truth of the matter is that I'm letting Satan win this battle in my life and I know that God is much bigger than that.

So here it goes. I am using a verse from Ephesians to remind me of the way that God expects His people to act. It's in Paul's Letter to the Ephesians chapter 4 verse 29. It reads, "Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification (or building up - my definition) according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear it."

Just before this in Ephesians, God tells us to "be angry, and yet do not sin..." Anger is normal, but how I react is controllable. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, and it will take the power of Christ to help me with this. I'm keeping count, so feel free to ask me how many times I have cussed today. I am at 4 now, and hope to be done altogether. Pray for me.