Healthy Choices
SELF-CONTROL INCREASES HEALTH AND ENJOYMENT OF LIFE.
Bible Reading of the Day: Read Daniel 1:3-15.
Verse of the Day: “A person without self-control is as defenseless as a city with broken-down walls” (Proverbs 25:28).
“Daddy,” Meghan said, as she watched him cut vegetables for dinner, “you’re getting really skinny.” She sat on a high stool as her dad stood at the kitchen counter.
“Why, thank you, Meghan,” Dad said. “I have lost some weight.”
“Is it hard to lose weight?”
Dad stopped cutting and cocked his head to one side. “Yes, it is, I guess. It does take self-control-that’s for sure.” “What’s self-control?”
“Well,” Dad said thoughtfully, “it’s being able to say no to some of the things you want so you can have other things you want more.” “Self-control isn’t very fun, is it, Daddy?”
Dad stopped chopping and looked at Meghan. “Sometimes it’s not,” he said. “But sometimes it can make other things fun.” “Like what?”
Dad cleared his throat. Meghan’s questions could be exasperating at times. He suddenly got an idea. He opened the refrigerator and pulled out a leftover hot dog in a plastic bag.
“Watch this,” he said. He called Cody, the family dog, who lumbered into the kitchen and immediately smelled the hot dog in Dad’s hands. Dad tossed the hot dog to the animal, who caught it in midair and swallowed it in one gigantic gulp. Then Dad turned to Meghan. “Do you think Cody enjoyed that hot dog?”
Meghan giggled. “He ate it without even chewing it!”
Dad nodded. “That’s how I’ve been eating, Meghan.” He chuckled too. “I’ve been gulping down food in a hurry, not even tasting it sometimes. But now that I’ve started to change my eating habits, I’m enjoying my food more. Because I chew it carefully now, I taste it more. And I’m eating healthier foods too, so just that little bit of self-control is making me happier and healthier.”
Meghan climbed down from her stool and looked up at her dad. “Daddy, can we eat now? I’m getting hungry!”
Dad chuckled again. “Me too, Meghan. Me too!”
TO DO: Make a snack of vegetables and water as a reminder of Daniel’s self-control. Discuss how his (and Meghan’s dad’s) self-control might have made him happier and healthier.
TO PRAY: “Lord, give us the strength we need to be self-controlled.”