We made it halfway through the week; it is Wednesday. Continue to hold on and focus on today and what is in front of you, and not look back at things you cannot change, and not look ahead to things you cannot control. Let’s get into it. So.. I have been thinking about many things lately, y’all know how I can be. But I am in the dating scene now. I like to say I am kind of on the sidewalk observing and not fully in the streets like that. If you do not know, it is crazy out here. Yet, as I have been observing and experiencing dating, I am met with the realization that there is beauty in self-control and self-discipline. I spent over three years being single, and during those three years, I went into a deep season of prayer, fasting, learning, unlearning, healing, and almost a soul-searching time in my life. I questioned everything I had been conditioned to believe. I reframed every toxic thought pattern. I challenged every rigid religious belief system and practice forced upon me. I practiced sexual discipline and celibacy. No self-gratification of any kind. I chose to be sober from all substances. I starved my flesh. It could no longer control me on any front. I did this for three years. Yes, I slipped here and there and made mistakes, but 98 percent of the time I fasted. I repented. I prayed. I was consecrated; I became sanctified. I could not understand why I was in this season until now.

“A person without self-control is like a city with broken-down walls.”

Proverbs 25:28 NLT

I have been approached by many men seeking to treat me as a good time. As if my body, my presence, my spirit, is not a divine encounter. I have learned to not allow any to get that close to me. I have had one beautiful encounter where our spirits brushed shoulders, turned around, and recognized one another in the midst of it, so I cannot say it has been all bad. Let me not get off track. There is beauty in self-control and self-discipline. I have gone many years without either, and I did not feel fulfilled or whole giving into temptation or vain attention from those who truly did not cherish me. The opposite of love is not sexual liberation. Many people become heartbroken and believe the solution is to abandon having standards and boundaries, instead becoming a motel where anyone can check in and out as they please. Your body and your presence are sacred, holy ground. A temple where God resides. The least we can do is ensure it is properly guarded and protected. Your flesh was never meant to lead, only to follow. You were not created to be ruled by cravings, urges, or emotions but to live led by the Spirit. True self-control is not about denying your body’s needs but submitting them to something greater, the will of God. Your body is not a battleground for indulgence; it is a temple. And temples are sacred. Discipline is not bondage; it is a form of freedom. It is choosing to honor what God has entrusted to you by not letting temporary desires override eternal purpose. When I say that being in my life and getting to know me is a privilege, it is not because I am conceited, but I know the calling that God has placed on my life. I know that I am a treasure made in His image. I see myself as God sees me. I know the woman he created me to be. I know the legacy he has placed inside of my womb. The generations that will come from me. The liberators, revolutionizers, and restorers. You are not here to be consumed, sampled, or passed around. You are not a pit stop for the bored or broken. You are sacred space. Holy ground. You were created with purpose, carved by God’s own hands, and called to walk in power. Let self-control clothe you like armor. Let discipline guide you like a compass. Do not let the world convince you that your value is in how accessible you are. Guard what is holy. Honor what is divine. And never forget, your life, your body, your presence is a divine encounter too.

“Have you forgotten that your body is now the sacred temple of the Spirit of Holiness, who lives in you? You don’t belong to yourself any longer, for the gift of God, the Holy Spirit, lives inside your sanctuary. You were God’s expensive purchase, paid for with tears of blood, so by all means, then, use your body to bring glory to God!”

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 TPT