Spiritual Olympics: Self-Control

Have you been watching any of the Olympics? During the Olympics, athletes from all over the world compete against each other at the same time. We see a great athlete at the top of their sport and performing the best that they have in their entire lives. Not only are they trying to compete with the best in the whole world, but they are also representing their entire country too! We see their performance. We see where they came from. But what we don't see is the years of preparation, the times they failed, the times they struggled, the times they weren't quite where they wanted to be. To be an Olympic athlete takes years of hard work, preparation and dedication. And to make all of that happen, those athletes must practice an incredible amount of self-control. They are the only ones who can really create improvement. What if we took that message and applied it to our faith? If we can compare our spiritual lives with the Olympics, then just like those Olympic athletes, the place where all of our preparation begins is within ourselves. How can we exercise good self-control to resist temptation, to continually improve ourselves and to be the best example of Christ that we can be? It begins within ourselves and our ability to control our bodies, our actions and our relationship with God.