D. L. Moody, the famous evangelist of the 19th century, was once asked, “Of all the people you have come in contact with, who would you say has given you the most trouble?” He said, “That’s easy, D. L. Moody.” We smile because we understand all too clearly that the one who consistently gives each of us the most trouble, the one we have to clean up after the most, and the one we have to correct the most is none other than ourselves. Someone once said, “If you could kick the person responsible for most of your troubles, you probably wouldn’t be able to sit down for weeks.”

We all have a hard time saying “NO.” Have you ever lost control of yourself and been embarrassed or frustrated by your behavior? Maybe you overate - or spent too much - or said too much - or played too much - or bragged too much - or procrastinated too much - or interfered too much - or worked too much - or complained too much, or argued too much? Can you think of a time or two or three in your life when you lost your grip on the reigns of self? I’ll bet you can because we all have! Each of us has had to endure times of difficulty, frustration, and defeat, and we realized later that we had no one to blame but ourselves. This Sunday, as we conclude the "All Things New" series, we will consider the remaining two items on the list, gentleness and self-control, which tie all the others together.