Seven Ways to Gain Self-Control: My Contemplation of Verse 33 of the Tao Te Ching

Dr. Dyer's book is Change your Thoughts--Change Your Life: Living the Wisdom of the Tao.

Today, I am delving into verse 33 of the Tao Te Ching:

One who understands others has knowledge;

one who understands himself has wisdom.

Mastering others requires force;

mastering the self needs strength.

If you realize that you have enough,

you are truly rich.

One who gives himself to his position

surely lives long.

One who gives himself to the Tao

surely lives forever.

What do you do when someone insults you?  What do you do when someone argues with you?  What do you do when someone infuriates you?  Do you turn the other cheek?  Or do you bite back?

This verse, 33, is telling us we need to do to deal with others.  Here is what the verse explains:

 

1. We need to understand ourselves.  We need to look within for the answers to our problems.  What makes us tick?  What is our personality?  What do we need to function in this world?  Why do we keep making the same mistakes?

2. We need to understand others.  We need to understand that we are all of different walks of life.  We all have baggage.  We all have our hurts.  We are all trying to heal.

3. We need to stop attempting to control others.  It is worthless to attempt it.  Others have their own thoughts about life.  We have different motivations for doing what we do.  How can we truly know the problems of others, which affect their behavior?

4. We need strength to control ourselves.  Taking the focus away from others allows us to concentrate our energies on our growth.  We need the power to continue to advance in life.  We should turn to God for help.  Only He can provide the supernatural strength to control our responses to others.

5. We need to realize we have enough.  We have enough possessions.  We have enough smarts.  We have enough people in our lives.  We have all we need to live successfully.

6. We need to give ourselves to God.  We need to let God's wisdom guide us.  We should allow God's love flow through us.  We need to work through those areas in our lives which God reveals to us as needing improvement.  Only then can we move forward in our lives.

7. We need to give ourselves over to our vocations.  God has a special job for us.  Some of us are parents.  Some of us are helpers.  Some of us are leaders.  No matter what the job, career or calling, we need to fulfill what God has put us on earth to do.

God equips the called.  God provides all we need, even the ability to control ourselves.

Let's consider these tips to help us control our lives.  We can't control others.  If we turn to God, our lives can improve.  We can't blame other people for our problems.  We need to take control back by choosing a wise manner to respond to others.

Thanks for reading today's post.  

I appreciate it.  

I hope this post blesses you, my dear readers.

I've got some questions for you: Are you still trying to control the people in your life?  Or are you trusting God to help you gain self-control?  Do you understand that God is the source for all we need, including the ability to deal with others?  I pray we all trust God to guide us.  Let's not lean on our own understanding.

May God bless you, my beloveds, with His wisdom and peace, in Jesus' name.  Amen!

This has been an entry for Wisdom Wednesdays.

I am currently drawing inspiration from Dr. Wayne W. Dyer's book and the 81 verses of the Chinese wisdom book the Tao Te Ching.

Enjoying the Self-Discipline

  We must seek joy even when we face trials.  That is not to say that we won't feel sadness and/or other negative emotions.  We must definitely face life's challenges.  The question is: how are we to react to those challenges?  Following are some Bible verses dealing with rejoicing while maintaining self-control (self-discipline):   22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.  --Galatians 5:22-23 NIV  On JOY--  24 This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.   --Psalm 118:24 NIV  2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.  --James 1:2-4 NIV 

22 A joyful heart is good medicine, But a broken spirit dries up the bones.  --Proverbs 17:22 NAS  6 Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the LORD.  

--Psalm 27:6 NIV   22 So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. 23 In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. --John 16:22-24 NIV  When we are weak, we can tap into the power of God:  9 Each time he said,  "My gracious favor is all you need. My power works best in your weakness. " So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may work through me. 10 Since I know it is all for Christ's good, I am quite content with my weaknesses and with insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.    --2 Corinthians 12:9-10 NLT  On SELF-CONTROL (SELF-DISCIPLINE)--   28 A person without self-control is like a house with its doors and windows knocked out.  --Proverbs 25:28 The Message  24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. 27 No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. --1 Corinthians 9:24-27 NIV  4 Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper and be satisfied. --Proverbs 13:4 NLT 7 An elder must live a blameless life because he is God's minister. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered; he must not be a heavy drinker, violent, or greedy for money. 8 He must enjoy having guests in his home and must love all that is good. He must live wisely and be fair. He must live a devout and disciplined life.  Titus 1:7-8 NLT   7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.  2 Timothy 1:7 NLT  Although this is a good list of Bible verses dealing with the concepts of JOY and SELF-DISCIPLINE, there are many other ones available.  This is me providing a portion of God's wisdom about these topics.  It's important to understand that emotions are natural.  It's what we do with those emotions that matters.  God welcomes us to ask Him for help when we can't discipline ourselves.    God is ready to help us control ourselves and rejoice during our trials.   How about it, my readers? Are you rejoicing in your trials?  What about self-control?  Are you controlling yourself through the challenges in your life?  I encourage you to reread these Bible verses.  You might gain an understanding of how to handle a particular situation in your life.  I pray that God gives you all, my beloveds, His wisdom and peace. 

This has been an entry for the Spiritual Sundays series. 

To compile this mini- bible study, I visited: http://www.biblestudytools.com/

 

Sharing God's Word With Children

  5 Love God, your God, with your whole heart: love him with all that's in you, love him with all you've got!  6 Write these commandments that I've given you today on your hearts. Get them inside of you  7 and then get them inside your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night.  8 Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder;  9 inscribe them on the doorposts of your homes and on your city gates.  --Deuteronomy 6:5-9 The Message (version) 
I've heard the actor Kirk Cameron say that we all have the ten commandments written on our hearts.  We know right from wrong.  We know that we shouldn't lie, steal, and kill.  We know that we should respect and love God.  There are, though, some questions we should be asking ourselves. 
What are we teaching our children about God?  What are we not saying?  How much is God in our lives?  Are we discussing issues about God with our children?  Are we equipped to teach our children about God? 
The Bible is readily available to us.  That is not enough.  We must know how to study the Bible.  We must ask the Holy Spirit to guide us.  Prayer brings about much, and God wants us to understand His words. 
That's why I think it's important to reach out.  When something does not make sense, it is an opportunity to look beyond ourselves.  It is an opportunity to tap into the wonderful resources that are available to us.  We can turn to people who are more knowledgeable than us.  We can turn to online helps, too.  I believe that when you truly understand what the Word of God means, and believe it, you are ready to teach the Word to your children.  The authority carries more weight in it.  The love you have for God will shine through.  Children need parents who are sold out believers in the Lord our God.  The love of God is manifest, or shown, through His words and through us, the parents.  That's why it is important to search our hearts.  We must see if there is anything in our lives that is not exhibiting that true love that we have for our God.  He loves us and wants us to love Him, too.  I think it's wonderful that we can model that love to our own children.  Just looking back at all the mistakes I could fallen into makes me appreciative of the loving God I have in my life.    I take the time to talk with my children about how God has helped me throughout my life.  Being forty years-old has given me some perspective.  It is the experiences of God's actual love and care in my life that have given me some authority to share with my children.  Everyone has baggage in life from hurts and disappointments; it's what happens as a result of them.  It's the struggles in life that God has brought me through that's important.  How do we handle the day to day life struggles?  Do we depend on ourselves?  Or do we turn to our loving Heavenly Father?  What are we teaching our children about the challenges in life?  What do we want for our children to believe about their struggles?  Are we in a constant state of frustration?  Or are we turning over our struggles to God?  I know that it feels weird to me that I might be the only one who knows what I'm thinking.  The reality, fortunately, is that we are not alone.  God knows what's in our hearts and minds.    Having the Word of God is comforting to me.  Whenever I have a problem, I first turn it over to God.  I turn to His words.  I feel peace.  I trust God.  I trust in no human.  Not everyone understands in that concept--trust God.  The truth is that people will disappoint you.  Family may not protect you.  Friends might back stab you.  The government will continually become too intrusive.    Even nature might seem to conspire against you.  You might want to garden or swim, but it rains.  Should you get upset at all those things?  It is our nature to get mad.  It's whether you learn to control it.  I think about times I have been so upset that my blood pressure caused my blood to boil.   It takes a lot of effort to control oneself, but it says in the Bible that you need self-control.  The Bible is God's word.  God loves us so much that He cautions us to control ourselves.  He is not trying to restrict us from living.  His words are there in the Bible to guide us to live the best life possible.  My question to you, my readers is this: What are you teaching your children?  Are you teaching them about God?  Have you introduced them to the Word of God?  Do they see you cracking open the Bible?  I encourage you to have discussions whenever you can, whether after dinner or as you sit in the car.  Your children and their children, will be blessed, as you share with them the love God has for us all.  I pray that God gives you all, my beloveds, His wisdom and peace. 

This has been an entry for the Spiritual Sundays series. 

To compile this mini- bible study, I visited: http://www.biblestudytools.com/