Fasting Teaches Self-Control

Fasting helps us gain strength of character. When we fast properly, we will learn to control our appetites and passions. We are a little stronger by having proved to ourselves that we have self-control. If we teach our children to fast, they will develop the spiritual strength to overcome greater temptations later in their lives.

I love this paragraph. The logic here makes so much sense. Willfully going without food or drink, which we all have a natural appetite for, for a certain period of time, can increase our will-power to resist other  natural (or unnatural) appetites we may have.

And I love that "We are a little stronger by having proved to ourselves that we have self-control." It's one thing to have the ability to do something. It's another thing to know that you have the ability. That knowledge can give you the confidence you need to actually do what you're capable of. We all know, on some level, that we have the power to resist temptation, but once we prove to ourselves that we have that power, by resisting the temptation to eat something, that knowledge can take a whole other level.

The one thing I would change about the quoted paragraph is that I would have included "us" as a subject in the last sentence. "If we [and] our children... fast, [we] will develop the spiritual strength to overcome greater temptations later in [our] lives." What's true for children is often true for adults as well. Fasting can help all of us gain greater spiritual strength and ability to resist temptation.

I'm grateful for a wise Heavenly Father who gave us a way to practice resisting temptation so we could become strong at it. He really has thought of everything. His plan is perfect, though we usually don't fully understand it. I'm grateful for His wisdom, and hope that I can someday learn to completely trust it and follow Him, even through thorny ways and difficult paths. His way is the best way and I wish I really, deeply believed that.