More than a Few Seconds

When most people are shopping for a car, one of the things they check out is the acceleration. It may not be the most important factor for them; but when they take it out for a test drive, you can be sure—at some point—they will see how the engine responds when they push the gas pedal to the floor. The car industry knows this is important to a lot of people, so they include information about how quickly their model will go from zero to sixty.

The four-door sedan I drive with its four-cylinder engine has a published time of 9.2 seconds. That is a long way from the 3.4 seconds that Chevy reports for their 2011 ZR1 Corvette. Nevertheless, there have been very few times when I have even considered putting my car to the test. In fact, in most situations it would be both wasteful and dangerous to reach sixty miles-per-hour in under ten seconds—even if I was driving the ‘Vette.

A few months ago I was riding with a friend in his new car. The on-board computer could calculate and display the current fuel economy; and he had challenged himself to see how efficiently he could drive. When we pulled out on the road, he very slowly and smoothly accelerated until we began to approach the posted speed limit. As we rode along, he would take his foot off the gas as soon as he spotted a red light ahead. I must admit there were times when I was concerned that we would make it to our appointment; but he was the perfect example of moderation, restraint and control . . . and he got great gas mileage . . . and he got us there with time to spare.

As the fruit of God’s love grows in your life, it is important to remember that God’s love grows best in a well-tended garden; and that requires discipline. You have to be attentive to the attitudes, affections and activities that would prevent you from reflecting the light of God’s love into the lives of the people around you. You have to weed those things out, and commit yourself to adopting the kind of practices that move you toward your goal.

The pursuit of greater consistency in your personal life might be the most important step you can take toward becoming a more loving person. Self-control is not an end in itself; rather, its goal is to serve other people better by reflecting more of the light of God’s love into their lives. That is something that is demonstrated most effectively over a lifetime—not just a few seconds.