WWW.TOTHENEXTLEVEL.ORG

Self-Control

by Doug Reese TTNL

It was a far from a typical sports anecdote that Brooklyn Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey told in explaining why he chose Jackie Robinson as the right man to break baseball's color barrier by becoming the first African-American to play in the major leagues.

In their first meeting, Rickey was impressed with the handsome, well-spoken character, and the anger of Jackie Robinson.

"At the end of a three hour conference Robinson showed the necessary intelligence and strength of personality, but he had more and deeper racial resentment than was hoped for or expected," Rickey wrote.

The question was, how to use that rage against injustice while keeping it under control in the face of constant abuse, physical and verbal, Robinson was to face as the first black in modern "organized baseball."

Robinson made a deal with Branch Rickey, when he signed in 1945, that he would never fight, even if provoked. The fiery Robinson needed to control his temper under the most trying conditions. Ricky knew many prejudiced ballplayers would not make it easy for Robinson, and he wanted to make sure Robinson would maintain his self-control.

"Mr. Rickey," Robinson asked, "you want a coward on your ball team?"

Rickey shook his head.

"I've got two cheeks; is that it?" Robinson asked.

Rickey nodded.

Rickey said of Robinson, "He was anything, but ideal for this 'experiment.' It took an intelligent man to understand the challenge - it took a man of great moral courage to accept it and see it through. He was both."

When Jackie Robinson was verbally abused or when players slid into second bas with their spikes high, Robinson kept his temper in check. He turned away, then got his revenge with a base hit, a diving catch, or a stolen base. It is easy to fight back, but it takes real courage to turn the other cheek and show your class and self-control.

Athletic Principle

It is common place to read in the newspapers, or hear on the TV about an athlete being in trouble for losing control. You hear about their actions on the field, at restaurants and bars, and even at home. Professional athletes such as the NBA's Dennis Rodman have amassed literally hundred of thousands of dollars in fines and suspensions due to fighting, cheap shots, and other obnoxious behavior. And now this type of behavior is becoming more and more common place in college and at the high school level. A loss of self-control is the cause for fines, suspensions, loss of eligibility, loss of scholarships, community service, and even jail time.

But a loss of self-control is not just something you read about in the newspapers, it is something that can be witnessed in the midst of almost every game and competition. It can start with a bad call, a missed assignment, or a bad technique. Then the athlete loses their focus. Instead of concentrating on the next moment, the athlete gets angry or frustrated... then anything can happen. It could be a kick, a trip, an elbow, a slash, a curse, a clip, or even a punch.

Sometimes the athlete will get away with it, sometimes a foul or penalty will be issued. Sometimes an ejection will result. Sometimes a fight will occur. Sometimes the person who retaliates is penalized, and the offender gets off free. In any result, lack of self-control has consequences.

If you are going to experience true success, you must learn self-control. Self-control is discipline. It is controlling your thoughts, controlling your emotions, controlling your words, and controlling your actions. The true recipe for discipline is just plain hard work, and the guts and determination to do the right thing. A.C. Green of the NBA writes:

"You must have discipline to reach a championship level in life. In professional basketball, if a player has talent and ability, but doesn't have discipline, he washes out. Anyone can do something once, but not well. Maybe after a lot of tries, someone can do something perfectly a time or two. But to do something perfectly every time requires constant practice, and practice requires discipline.

"Coach Pat Riley always worked our Laker teams to a point of fatigue at practice. His reasoning was that we had to be able to shoot and execute plays as well at the end of the game, when we were tired, as we did at the beginning, when we were fresh. Discipline made us a championship team. Discipline will take what you master or acquire and keep it for you."

Self-control and discipline take a focused, determined effort. It is not easy, but either is winning championships - the effort is well worth the effort.

God's Performance Principle

The Bible, God's Playbook for Life has more than just a few words to say about self-control. King Solomon, who was the wisest man to ever live had this to say:

"A person without self-control is as defenseless as a city with broken-down walls" (Proverbs 25:29).

Even though the walls of the city restrict the movements of the citizens, the people were happy to have them. Without the walls, they would have been vulnerable to attack by any passing group of marauders. Self-control limits us, to be sure, but it is necessary. An out-of-control life is open to all sorts of attacks by the enemy. Think of self-control as a wall of defense, a wall of protection. You would not go into a game without a defensive plan, thus God is telling us that self-control is part of His defensive plan for us. The plan is not optional, but very, very necessary for overall success.

God also gives us a great example of self-control in action from the life of Daniel. Daniel was a captive of King Nebuchadnezzar, the supreme ruler of Babylon.

"But Daniel made up his mind not to defile himself by eating the food and wine given to them by the King. He asked the chief official for permission to eat other things instead" (Daniel 1:8).

Daniel 'made up his mind' to be devoted to principle, and to be committed to a course of action. When Daniel made up his mind not to defile himself by eating food forbidden by Jewish law - such as pork, Daniel was being true to a lifelong determination to do what was right, and not give into the pressures around him.

We, too, are often assaulted by peer pressure from teammates, and 'friends' to compromise our standards and to live more like the world around us. Although Daniel was in a culture that did not honor God, he still had the self-control to obey God's law. Like Daniel, we must do the same.

The apostle Peter gives us the last word on self-control. Peter tells us this:

"So make every effort to apply the benefits of these promises to your life. Then your faith will produce a life of moral excellence. A life of moral excellence leads to knowing God better. Knowing God leads to self-control. Self-control leads to patient endurance, and patient endurance leads to godliness. Godliness leads to love for other Christians, and finally you will grow to have genuine love for everyone. The more you grow like this, the more you will become productive and useful in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 1:5-8).

Peter writes that faith must be more than belief in certain facts; faith must result in action, growth in Christian character, and the practice of moral discipline, or it will die away. A life of faith leads to learning to know God better, self-control, patient endurance, godliness, and loving others.

These six basic skills do not come automatically, they require hard work on our part. They are not an optional part of the training program; all six of the skills must be a continual part of your Christian life performance. We don't finish one fundamental skill then move on to the next skill area, but we work on all of the necessary skills at the same time. God empowers and enables us, but He also gives us the responsibility to learn and grow towards the person He wants us to be...just like His Son, Jesus.