Sweet Tooth

I have a sweet tooth. That’s an understatement. All 10,000 taste buds on my tongue along with the 32 teeth in my mouth hanker for chocolate confections. Thankfully, my self-control is in top form at the grocery store.

I can walk down the cookie aisle cucumber cool and give the bakery and frozen delight sections only a wistful glance and perhaps a moment of yearning without adding a single cupcake to my cart. Sure, I’ve bought a few pints, eh hem, gallons of ice cream in my life time and I do like to bake, but in general my “all in moderation†mantra keeps me balanced and on the low-sugar track at the grocery store.

In the comfort of my own home, however, my resolve is as firm as the gooey chocolate brownies on my kitchen counter. The brownies were made for guests, but as long as they reside in my territory their lifespan is limited to three days at best. Yummy surprises that my husband sometimes brings home from a campus bake sale or better (or should I say worse?) yet a box of girl-scout cookies bought to support the daughter of a colleague threaten my willpower.

A few months ago, I learned a lesson in self-control when my willpower wasn’t only threatened; it was demolished by a small rectangular box of Thin Mints. ™

I opened one plastic sleeve and sternly admonished myself “stop at two cookies.†About two-minutes and six cookies later I dug my fingernails into my palms and muttered “enough.†I then remembered a verse from my Sunday school class that morning.

“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline.†2 Timothy 1:7. NIV

This is where I am supposed to write that I closed that box. But I cannot write that without telling a lie. Truth is I pushed that scripture out of my mind and shoved two more cookies into my mouth, chewed furiously, and swallowed with a gulp. Then I froze convicted by the Holy Spirit by another verse that darted my conscience.

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.†1 Corinthians 6:19-20. NIV

Honestly, I don’t think an occasional cookie does the body much harm, but thoughtlessly wolfing down 300 empty calories, 14 grams of fat, 40 grams of carbohydrates, and 20 grams of sugar in less than five minutes is far from reverent.

I paused. Then I confessed, “Lord, please forgive me for ignoring your Spirit and the self-control you granted me. Please help me put this box of cookies away and not touch them for the rest of the night.â€

I repeated 2 Timothy 1:7, closed the box and stuffed it into my freezer. Then I smiled. For as delicious as those cookies tasted the sweetness stirred in my heart was far greater.