Lent Day 11

Temperance is a matter of life and death. Temperance is the quality of moderation or self-restraint. Moderation is avoiding extremes. As Jim Gaffigan says, ‘If you eat a whole pizza, people say, “Wow, you were hungry!” but if you eat a whole cake, people think, “You’ve got a problem.”’ Much of Gaffigan’s humor is based on gluttony. It’s funny–hilarious, really–because we all understand what it means to live according to the flesh. We understand gluttony as a temptation that lives in our flesh. So Paul says not to feed it. Don’t feed the desires of the flesh. Temper them through moderation and self-restraint. By the power of the Holy Spirit in you, put to death the deeds of the flesh, and you will live.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, we desire to live according to your Spirit and not according to the passions of the flesh. Forgive us for times when we have fed the desires of the flesh to our own destruction. Give us temperance, that we might live in moderation and self-restraint according to the power of your Holy Spirit in us. Amen.