Hypnotized

On Wednesday nights we have been talking about Christian Values. Last night we talked about self control. Let's face it, we live in a society where it can be very difficult to have self-control. There are so many temptations and distractions especially for young people.

Last night I shared an experience i had at a hypnotists show in Las Vegas a couple years ago. I learned a lot about self-control that night as I went up that night to be "Hypnotized". I hate to ruin this for anybody, but there is no magic involved. The whole show is based on the knowledge that once you get a human being up on stage they will go along with it cause they don't want to ruin the show or embarrass the performer. At least that's how it was for me. I went along with everything the hypnotist said because i felt pressure to. i could have stood up and said "This is a sham, I'm not hypnotized" and walked out. But i chose to participate so as not to ruin the show. In case you were worried about what kind of crazy things your Youth Minister was doing, this was a family show, so i did not do anything that would compromise my integrity too much :) Anyway, I used it as an illustration to show how we are always able to control ourselves and our actions. unfortunately, a lot of times our actions are often influenced by the situations we put ourselves in and what we think others expect from us.

2 Peter 1:5-8 says:
"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Self-control is a very important building block of our faith. We can have all the religious talk down, but it's another thing to be able to use self control in a situation where your faith is tested.
To be an effective witness for Christ, self control is a necessity.

Self control is not something we are born with though, it's something we have to learn and practice. So we talked about ways we could improve our self control.

• You have to know yourself. Know your strenghts and weaknesses. figure out what situations you find it difficult to practice self control and avoid them.
• Talk to others about your struggles. Talk to friends, parents and other adults who can help you through and hold you accountable.
• Slow down and pray up. Don't always react to your hormones or emotions. stop, think, and pray for God's wisdom and guidance.
• Look to the scriptures. It can be intimidating to look in the Bible cause we don't always no where to start. there are plenty of good resources out there to help you along. the Internet is a great tool. You can even go to Google and type in "What does the Bible say about..."

having self control is a continuing struggle with everyone. I hope last night gave your kids some ideas that will help them as they continue on their path as young Christians.

Peter