“Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.” – Proverbs 16:32
I went through a stretch where I was obsessed with the game Risk. I had a hard time gathering a group people to sit down for a four hour slugfest, so I played against the computer. I usually lost, but the challenge made it more alluring. The variables, the complexity, and the unpredictable swings of fortune–all of it kept me hooked. Then the winner-takes-all stakes spiked my competitive juices.
For achievement-addicts, strategy games like Risk scratch an itch. It presents you with one clear and simple objective (global domination) where you can easily track your successes or failures. The Bible teaches that your conquest instinct isn’t wrong—you just need to aim it at the right goal.
This proverb takes examples that pop. When someone is mighty, you know it. When someone takes down a city, you’ll hear about it. These aren’t achievements that people just stumble into. They don’t happen overnight. Cities aren’t masses of people bumbling into each other, wondering when someone is going to take them over. To conquer a city you need a well-trained army, a thorough knowledge of its weak spots, strategy, patience, and perseverance through losses. It takes grit. The Bible tells us that as hard as that is, ruling your spirit is even harder.
You don’t have to look far for case studies to prove this. Take a handful of the most successful, most accomplished athletes in the world. How many of these would you commend as models of self-control? They’ve demonstrated remarkable discipline over their bodies, but their spirit is another matter. If you want to set your sights on a great battle and stunning victory, look within. You’ll find a challenge no one in history has completely mastered. “For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tames and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue” (James 3:7-8) How’s that for setting the bar high?
We look to the business moguls, presidents, and celebrities as the ones who have made it. They’re the ones we’re looking up to, who hold the power, who have done or are doing the great things that move the world. That’ll bring you to despair. You’ll never be that. But there’s a goal within your reach—inside your very person—that is more lofty than anything these icons have attained.
Only Jesus maintained perfect mastery over his spirit. As a Christian, he’s given you that spirit. In any direction you look, you will see an endless runway of objective metrics for you to track your progress. You want to strive, win victories, go farther. Those are God-given desires. But the hardest, most significant battle of your life is one you don’t have to go anywhere to find. It’s waiting for you the moment you wake up. It’s your restless spirit.
Are you seeking and resting in God’s love for you? Do you lean into the unknown with expectant faith? Can you feel contentment in the midst of failure and disappointments? How do you respond to that unfair comment or inconsiderate request? Will you give in to the temptation of instant gratification? Are you mastered by your spirit, or do you master it? These are the real battles where Jesus calls you to fight and makes you a conqueror.
