Get self control. Now.

Son, get out of the car.

This is what I would say to the boy every morning when I would drop him off for school.  He loved school, but he just could not hurry.  My little tortuga I would often call him affectionately –Spanish for “turtle”.  So relaxed and laid-back I know he’ll never need to buy a bottle of Tums for an anxious stomach.

Hurry, we’re late!

His lips say okay, but his body rhythm doesn’t change.  Bend over.  Tie the shoe.  Grab the other shoe.  Slowly tie it.  No hurry in him.

I love who he is, this boy who often helps me slow down and breathe, but sometimes I wish I could light a fire underneath him big enough to increase his speed.

Peter says the same thing to the little tortugas in the church.  “Make every effort…to add self control.” (2 Peter 1:5)

“To make every effort” is from the Greek word that means “to speed, to hasten”.

get a move on

pick up the pace

hop to it

chop chop

How quickly are you moving to gain self control?  Is your effort so slow that someone would need time-lapse photography to document it?  I imagine the Spirit of God tapping his foot, waiting for us to catch the urgency of hurry.