In thinking on it these personal progress reports I feel have a been a bit impersonal, so I decided to switch it up for this week. As you may know, for a while I’ve been struggling with self control. It’s mostly been with media like YouTube. I’ve known for a while that I need to cut YouTube out of my daily life, but I’ve been justifying in my head keeping it based on the idea that it is a useful tool to watch stuff daily for educational purposes. My hope is that by removing this distraction from my life on the level that it is, because of course I’ll still need it and use it, but only for very specific things, that I will have less distractions from Elders Academy work.

For those that want some context, it is important for an elder have self control because if they don’t they will waste valuable time and resources the body will need from him as a leader. This isn’t to mention it’s also a elder qualification according to Titus.

“Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.” – Titus 1:7-8 NIV

One last thing I would like to add is that this action of cutting out YouTube reminds me a lot of Matthew 18:8-9 which says this:

“If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.” – Matthew 18:8-9 NIV

It seems kind of drastic to cut off a hand or foot YouTube less so, but throwing out the good with the bad is worth it in some cases if the bad outweighs the good when it comes to sin. I believe that to be the case in this situation. I will take the step tomorrow.