Self-Control

A while back, I was in the thrift store that the parish ran in Creston and was amazed at the mountain of stuff that was donated just over the weekend. I began to think that at some point someone looked at whatever the item was at a store or on a commercial and told themselves “I have to have that thing” or he or she would not have purchased it. So many of the things that come in were never used or worn, they were purchased or received as a gift and then got put away in a closet or basement and then donated. I can only imagine at the price of these things when they were purchased new and are now sold for anywhere from a quarter to a couple of dollars.

We as Americans are constantly bombarded by the many messages that give us an opportunity to be parted with our money. Turn on the TV or websites, and just look at some of the ads, “your car makes your kids embarrassed, so if you want to be a cool parent, buy this one, we will even help you to go into debt to buy it, it will only be this much a month over many years”, or if you want to pick up a member of the opposite sex, just drink this beer, or if you want to jump like Michael Jordan, buy these shoes… the list goes on and on. I can fool myself by saying that the ads do not affect me, but I find myself seeing something in the store that I saw on an ad and wanted to buy it just to see what it is like. The more ads we see, the more we are affected.

The best way to circumvent it is to practice self-control, the same goes with sin, sin like in advertising seems really attractive, but in the end, like all of the items that get donated, they leave us unfulfilled. The devil always promises us something that is good, otherwise we would not choose it, just look at the temptation of Jesus. However, the good that sin is portrayed, it always comes with a cost. Jesus knew that he had access to whatever the devil promised anyway and had something better. The cost of sin always affects our soul, and sometimes the souls of others. The devil is to offer us something that we think that we need even if he does not have the power to give it to us. The point of advertising is to make something look enticing so that the next time we are in a store or shopping online we will purchase it even if we do not need it. This is where we need to have that self-control in purchasing, but more importantly self-control in our spiritual life. It is easy to say, don’t fall into the temptation to sin, but it is not that easy to follow. The best way to not fall into the temptation to purchase something is to make a list of things that you need to purchase and only get those. The best way to not fall into sin is to draw close to God who will give us the power to overcome sin.

God bless,
Fr. Ken