Just Say "No": Self-Control in a Culture of Decadence

The books I'm reading about North Korea are changing my perspective on everything, from cleaning the bathrooms to indulging in dessert. When I read about young children forced to clean the bathrooms in labor camps impeccably, it makes me think of how good I have it that there is no one forcing me to clean, or telling me how to do it, or beating me if it's not up to standard. Likewise, I find it much easier to day "no" to a decadent dessert knowing that the North Koreans are eating only one meal a day, most of it not being food at all, but instead tree bark and grass clippings. I struggle to see how this can be happening, but it is. In praying for the church universal, I send up extra prayers for those in North Korea, and in praying for our nation and leaders, I pray also for the global community, the U.N., that they would have extraordinary wisdom in dealing with this atrocious regime.