We five have been friends since school. There we were walking along a river in Brisbane. Beautiful. There are parks and swimming pools. We marvelled at the beauty around us and how neat everything was. Even the people are calmly sitting and enjoying the sunshine.

Suddenly we heard a woman screaming. She was screaming on top of her voice. She rushed at another smaller woman. She nearly bust her gut so upset was she. She turned away to calm herself, just to turn around again for the next round, screaming even harder. She looked really crazy, as if she was losing her mind.

Everybody was horrified, because such conduct certainly does not occur often in Australia. My Aussie pal said the police would soon be there, because this kind of behaviour is not tolerated at all.

The big woman turned around again and it seemed as if this was the end of the story. But no, she turned back, looked at the smaller woman, and slapped her so hard that she flew through the air, landing in the bushes.

A group of young men came to her aid and formed a wall. The bigger woman retreated.

It is very unusual to see behaviour like this in Australia where everything is so calm and quiet. We didn’t know exactly what the reason for this small battle was. Apparently one of them looked a little bit too much at the other one’s boyfriend.

That woman lost it. She couldn’t control her emotions. We could see how the conversation escalated and how the women got more and more worked up. Emotions became more and more stormy, until one was completely out of control. She started acting irrationally and eventually couldn’t control herself at all.

This may be an extreme example, but all of us are sometimes confronted by things that do not fit the way we do things. At times like these our emotions rise up and if we don’t stay in control of our emotions, they boil over. Then it is all a big mess and we end up doing things we later regret.

One of the biggest characteristics of Christians is: self-control. ⁸He must … have a good grip on himself … And it’s not that easy, because we shouldn’t only control sin, but all areas of our lives.

Some people can’t control how much they eat. I struggle with it too and often say my “Full” switch is broken, but this is no excuse. We must control ourselves and not dump junk down our throats.

We must be and remain in control in all other areas. We shouldn’t give in to our emotions like that woman, because that will leave more than one dead body in our wake. And the consequences for ourselves won’t look good.

Also make sure that what you look at is within the will of God, because if you lose control here, it can take control of your whole life. Make sure that you remain in control of your tongue, because we know how much damage the tongue alone can do.

Rather turn around, be the least, and remain in control. Keep calm. Stay in control.

Scripture
Titus 1:6-10

Reflection
In which areas of your life do you struggle to control yourself?
What steps can you do to avoid such situations?
Have you ever asked the Holy Spirit to help you with this?

Prayer
Lord, sometimes my emotions take over and I lose control. Please help me to conquer this weakness. Amen.