M&Ms

A few weeks ago in our Sunday Morning Life Group, our topic was the Holy Spirit.  As we examined the Scriptures, we eventually got to Galatians 5 and the fruit of the Spirit.  in Galatians 5:23 we find the list......love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.  I'm using the New American Standard translation, so that's how the list reads there.  If you have a different translation, the list may read a little differently, but the words mean the same thing; the translators have just chosen a different English word to convey the original.  Regardless of how the list reads in your translation, the words mean the same thing and are always in the same order. 

I think that's an important point.  Because I believe that nothing about the Bible is coincidental or haphazard, I believe the order of this list is deliberate, and therefore important.  I'm not sure I completely understand the "why" of the order, but I know the words are in that particular order for a reason.  And I find it interesting to note that "self-control" is always last, no matter which translation you are reading.  (It's called "temperance" in the King James Version).  I wonder if self-control is last because it's the last of the fruit to "ripen", to come to maturity.  I don't know, but it's something to think about.

As we talked about the fruit of the Spirit in our Life Group, this question was asked:  which of these fruit do you think is least obvious in your own life?  Many people answered "patience".  My answer:  self-control.

What does this have to do with M&Ms, you may be asking.  I'm getting to that!

My husband returned home a few days ago after a long business trip.  He was gone for more than two weeks on what I have described as a "trade-show marathon".  3 cities.  3 trade shows.  The last show was in Las Vegas, where he stayed at the MGM Grand.  If you have been to Las Vegas, then you are aware that just a few doors down from the MGM Grand is M&M World!  And my dear husband made a special trip to M&M World just to buy a big bag of M&Ms for me!

I'm not talking about those prepackaged M&Ms you can purchase in any grocery store or Walmart anywhere.  In M&M world there are rows of bins with every kind and color of M&M imaginable......an M&M lover's dream!  So, he got his large cello bag and scooped all sorts of M&Ms into it......every color......plain, peanut, almond, coconut, peanut butter, and my personal favorite......pretzel!!  And he brought this giant back of treats home to me! 

For the first few days I managed to pace myself.  Only a few per day.  But yesterday, which by the way was one of the most frustrating days I've had in a very long time, that bag of candy became the perfect illustration of lack of self-control.  I could not keep my hand out of the bag no matter how many times I told myself to stop!  No matter how many times I said "this is the last one", I kept going back to that bag.  Somehow (!!!!) M&Ms kept ending up in my mouth. 

What a struggle!  That tiny little candy was getting the victory.  Good grief!

I guess that proves that "self-control" is not self-control at all, but Spirit-control.  And my confession to you is that I'm having a struggle with this one!