The story is told of a man named Moni Bawa who lived in India. He had strong morals and always believed in being a good person, but there was a problem. He had one bad trait of character that he could never overcome: his fiery temper. He was well known for flashing angry insults or swear words and always regretting the hurtful words he had spoken. Realizing his own weakness of character, he decided to stop his temper once and for all by taking a “vow of silence”. He vowed not to say another word for the next six years. That way, he would be forced to control his temper more. Believe it or not, Moni was able to keep his vow for the full six years! Talk about self control! Afterwards, someone asked him if he had cured himself from his bad temper. He confessed that even after the many years of silence, he was still unable to control it. “I have been silent for six years, but it hasn’t helped. My temper is still bad,” he said afterwards. You see the problem isn’t that Moni didn’t try hard enough. Nor is it the fact that perhaps he didn’t use the right method. The problem was that he was trying to do it all on his own. You see, all of us, and I mean ALL of us have bad traits of character (I probably have a million more than the average person,) and none of us will ever be able to overcome by our own strength or willpower. I bet that even if Moni was silent for 40 years or even 100 years, his temper wouldn’t change. Yes, he may learn how to show his anger less, but it would still be inside of him, a part of him. The only way that we can TRULY overcome any bad trait of character is by finding strength from Christ, the only person who has overcome every sin for us!
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Let’s claim the promises of the Bible and give our temptations to Jesus! (And trust me, it’s much easier than trying to do things by your own strength!)
