Temperance

 February 27, 2022

“And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown.” —I Corinthians 9:25 

“Temperance” was the topic in Sunday School this morning. “If we are temperate in all things,” one class member observed, “life becomes flat and uninteresting.” This person had a point. Years ago, John Maxwell quoted a little ditty about this kind of living:

There was a very cautious man
Who never laughed or played.
He never risked, he never tried,
He never sang or prayed.
And when one day he passed away,
His insurance was denied;
For since he never really lived,
They claimed he never died.

If temperance is the goal, life indeed will be dull. But St. Paul doesn’t think of temperance as being a goal in itself, but a means to a goal. Anyone who wants to excel at anything has to eliminate from his life any distractions that would get in the way of the goal, whether it be a sport, music, business, or family. That’s what temperance is all about—making sacrifices to attain a goal.

The athlete sacrifices social life, junk food, free time, to work out, practice, refine her skills. The musician puts in hours of practice that might have been spent with friends or playing video games. The soldier sacrifices ease and comfort to drill, endure war games, work to the point of exhaustion in order to be in the best fighting trim. In short, nothing worthwhile is accomplished in spare time and minimal effort. 

Temperance would be a sad way of life if it weren’t for the goal. God calls us to deny ourselves to the point of taking up a cross, not so we can pat ourselves on the back for being more austere than others, but for the greater goal of which Paul spoke in Philippians 3:14–“I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

Temperance isn’t easy, but it will be worth it when we stand before Jesus and hear him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord.”