Every one of us has certain switches that once flipped will change the direction of our life. Some of these switches are instinctive, others are the result of training.

I once read a story of a mother whose child was being crushed under a vehicle. The mother in a desperate attempt to save her child lifted the corner of the vehicle to allow onlookers to pull her child to safety. Deep within the mother was a switch she did not know existed – a switch that once flipped saved her child.

Last week, I watched a movie trailer where an old-timer was sitting in a bar having a drink and minding his own business. In walks a group of rowdy punks with a mission to pick a fight. The attackers assumed the old man was easy prey.  Knowing nothing of the old man’s military background they crossed a line of integrity and personal safety, and a switch in the old man was flipped. The antagonizing leader of the bullying group eventually wakes up on the barroom floor not sure what happened. 

As a young martial arts student, I once asked my sensei, “What happens when you get old, will this still work?” A smile came on his face. The old sensei said, “It is like tea. It may get cold, but it will still pour.” 

Flipping a switch is not indicative of someone out of control. Some switches, known or unknown, are critical for our survival. Some of these switches exist at the frontier of our decision-making process where compromise wants to have us take the wrong trail. Once a righteous switch has been flipped the direction of a life can dramatically change.  

At the end of a list defining the fruits of the Spirit is self-control. It is the last one on the list for a reason. Without self-control, the other fruits of the Spirit will have a difficult time ripening. As we are learning the value of self-control, we must allow the Lord, not our emotions, to define what switch we allow to be flipped. Self-control is not an exercise dictated and empowered only by the exericise of our will. It is the result of a life living in submission to the will of the Father. His will is what we allow to determine our response to life.

Embedded in this current climate of social discord are issues that want to prematurely flip our switch. Learning how to control and channel our initial response to those issues will determine our spiritual and emotional well-being. I am praying for a revival of self-control in the Church. That revival will help each of us learn how to relate to each other as brothers and sisters, not opponents. Exercising self-control will give us the time needed to discern who or what is flipping our switch.