Self-Control

At our November meeting we heard from Courtney Gifford on Self-control. Courtney shared meaningful words, comical "mom" stories, and guided us to learn how to take control of our behaviors and attitudes.  Courtney shared she used to be very involved in MOPS and really enjoyed her time at MOPS.  She is a mom to 3 kids and before that was a school counselor. She shared the role of being a mom is the hardest job she have ever had.  

Courtney felt led to speak on self control because it is something she struggled with as a mom for many years. She has had lots of practice in trying to work on personal self-control and modeling and teaching it to her kids.  Below you will find her outline with helpful advise.

Self Control- the Definition: the ability to exercise restraint or control over one's feelings, emotions, reactions.  Self-control is the discipline of delaying impulse or gratification for a greater purpose.

We are all tempted by different things.  

No one in this room is perfect.  NO ONE!!  No one is the perfect mom or has the perfect child.   In order to develop self-control, we must first be honest with ourselves about our weakness.  We need to admit them to ourselves, each other and God before we can deal with them.   For example, Courtney shared:

            A.  I have always been a very emotional person. 

            B.  Didn't realize how angry I could get until after I was married and then                  had kids. 

            C.  Tone of voice-loud and critical is something I struggle with.

Think about your weaknesses so you can come up with tools to try to help.

Spend 10 minutes talking around your table about what it means to have self-control as a mom and give examples of ways you can do this? Some examples are:

            A.  body language

            B.  Mommy time out-hide in bathroom

            C.  Scripture memory 

Courtney shared that one of the things that has helped her tremendously is to know what she struggles with, so she can take her struggles to God and ask HIM to help her overcome them.  There are practical tools that we can use to have self-control but the power to change comes from the holy spirit. 
II Corinthians 12:6-9.  

There are a number of Bible verses that talk about temptation and struggles.  The Bible talks about how Jesus Himself was tempted. 

            A. I Corinthians 10:13 talks about how God will always give us a way out of our                           temptation.

            B. Phil. 4:13-I can do all things thru Christ who gives me strength

            C. Gal. 5:22 But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,                                   goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness and self-control...

Ways we can teach our kids to have self-control. 

Q:  What are some ways that you teach self-control to your kids?

            A.  Practice

            B.  Reward positive actions

            C.  Consequences-What would be a better choice?

            D.  Talk about self-regulation-be aware of emotions, anger, self-talk

We all make mistakes regularly.  We all mess up so instead of letting that ruin our day and feel mom guilt, we can give everything over to God and ask Him to take our raw gooey eggs and make a yummy breakfast.

            A.  Whole Eggs-our psyche as a mom, our kids psyche

            B.  Broken Eggs-What happens when we lose self-control

            C. Scrambled Eggs-What God can do with our mistakes

                        1.  Be transparent with other moms-we all struggle with this

                        2.  God can change us through our brokenness

                        3.  Ask for forgiveness to your kids.  Great model of humility