Tempered
Self-Control in an Age of Confident-Sounding Answers
A note before we begin: Desmond’s story is fictional — a constructed scenario, not a reported event. The discipline he demonstrates is real.
Desmond Okafor paused before opening the report.
“Lord, open my eyes to see anything we missed on the first pass. Help me to love these neighbors well that they may enjoy this home in peace for years to come.”
Tapping the screen of his tablet brought up the full inspection report, beautifully formatted, with detailed commentary throughout, all generated by the AI features in the latest release.
Des resisted the urge to rush through the report. Even though he had two more inspections to complete this afternoon, he had instilled in his team at True North Home Inspections the discipline of doing a final walkthrough with report in hand. This new software had already saved him hours of word-smithing tonight. That time, he figured, belonged to his clients, not to him getting out the door faster.
Room by room he checked the report against reality. All the pictures he’d uploaded seemed to be slotted in the right sections. All the measurements and readings seemed to line up. The commentary sounded very professional, striking that important balance of faithfully identifying risks and concerns with a tone that allowed the buyers to be excited about their new home.
The home was in beautiful shape with fresh paint throughout, refinished hardwood, and a kitchen that looked pulled from a magazine. Des recognized the work. He’d inspected two or three other properties this same outfit had bought worn and sold polished. They had a good eye for a property and moved fast once they had one.
As Des turned into the main floor office he noticed something that had escaped his attention on his first pass. Above the fireplace there was an area of ceiling texture that didn’t quite match the rest of the room. Stepping back to catch the light, he could tell it was fairly recent paint as well. It was probably nothing, but what was above this room?
Upstairs Des determined that the office was under a 4th bedroom that had been crafted out of part of the unfinished attic space. Walls had been erected so he couldn’t get all the way back to the chimney. From the attic there was a crawl space going behind the bedroom wall, but it was too small for Des to inspect. Shining his flashlight he couldn’t see anything of concern, but there was a slightly musty smell. He’d noticed it earlier and taken moisture readings that were all within standards.
Des looked at the report on his tablet:
3.4 — Attic / Roof Framing — Rear Knee Wall Space (Chimney Chase Area)
Rear knee wall space, located behind the fourth-bedroom partition wall adjacent to the chimney chase, has a restricted access opening; clearance is insufficient for physical entry per Standards of Practice. Area inspected visually using flashlight illumination through the available opening. Moisture meter readings taken at accessible framing members and insulation adjacent to the partition wall.
No elevated moisture readings recorded at accessible points. No visible staining, corrosion, or deterioration noted within the range of illumination. Insulation appeared undisturbed and consistent with surrounding attic areas.
Based on available data, no significant indicators of moisture intrusion or structural deficiency were noted at the time of inspection. Recommendation: Routine monitoring. No further action indicated at this time.
All of that was accurate, but Des knew it didn’t tell the buyer everything they needed to know. He tapped out a replacement to the closing paragraph on the tablet’s on-screen keyboard:
There was a musty smell in this area during the inspection. Also, the ceiling in the main floor office below this space — same wall as the chimney — has paint and texture that looks newer than the rest of the ceiling. This looks like it was repaired.
I could not fully check this space because it is too small to enter. Because of the smell in the attic and the repair below, I recommend a qualified contractor check this further before closing. This may need opening the wall to look for moisture damage near the chimney.
Des returned to the main floor and continued his room by room walk through. When he was done, he hit “File and Send” on the report, and headed to his next appointment. That final walkthrough had added half an hour to his inspection, but was worth every minute. He’d built his reputation on being thorough and clear. This new software actually helped him and his other inspectors be both, but it couldn’t see what he saw and didn’t know everything he knew.
What’s Happening Here?
This week’s article brings us to the final of the nine fruit of the Spirit: self control. In some sense, you practice self control whenever you demonstrate any of the other fruit — you are taking control, choosing godly behavior over your natural selfish desires.
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Sinclair Ferguson said it well: “The life of the Lord Jesus was one of perfect self-control, but what that means was that He possessed and expressed all these fruit of the Spirit fully and in perfect balance with each other. … His self-control really meant that He was able to express all the fruit of the Spirit in a way that must have felt like listening to beautiful voices singing in harmony, weaving in and out of each other to enhance every single voice.”
To a much lesser extent, that’s what Des is demonstrating in this story.
He could’ve chosen the easy path. His AI software produced a very professional sounding report, confident in its conclusions. It allowed Des to focus on what he was best at — the inspection itself — eliminating the struggles that Des sometimes had turning what he found into the words, sentences, and paragraphs that effectively communicated the findings.
Des had accurately entered all the data into the software. He’d done what was required of him. The software had generated its report, and it looked good. He could’ve quickly hit “send” and been on his way, confident his evening would be free to enjoy his family.
But that could have given a false confidence. There might be an issue here that could cause grief in the years to come for the family who will live inside these walls, bearing God’s image as much as Des does. Glossing over his concern, that came from years of professional experience, with professional sounding words wouldn’t be an act of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness or faithfulness.
In his letter to the church in Colossae, Paul spoke directly to workers about their work: “Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality.” (Colossians 3:22–25 NKJV)
Des chose the better path, the sacrificial path, the neighbor-loving path, the God-fearing path, the sanctifying path. He still reported nothing more than the facts, but he connected those facts to a potential concern and recommended a next step to restore the buyer’s peace and confidence, whatever the results.
In a recent essay, Kenn Software founder Wes McKinney made a similar observation about his company’s use of AI. Kenn effectively uses AI agents to produce millions of lines of low-bug software with just a three person team. On the surface that sounds like the model case of a company using “vibe coding” — fully autonomous, no-human-in-the-loop software development — to produce massive amounts of output with very little human involvement.
But he says “Vibe coding is not caring at scale.” He writes “The clankers (what we call the coding agents, since ‘agent’ gives them too much credit) are not in charge, we are.” AI is a powerful tool, but only in the hands of skilled experts who are paying attention and exercising self control.
GRACE in view
Des’ story demonstrates the GRACE we’ve been exploring throughout this series. He recognizes the goods in tension from the AI software — the time savings and the clear communication of the software on one side, but with the human experience and relational concern on the other. He knows that he’s the one responsible for the report, even if (especially if) the AI wrote it. He demonstrates his allegiance to God and doing what is right in his reliance on God and his choice of doing his work as unto the Lord over the convenience of efficiency. This diligence and the hard choices it forces continue to develop a character of sacrificial caring in Des and in his company’s culture. He sees that the family moving into the home would be the ones bearing the effect of any undisclosed issues in an AI-generated report.
A Few Questions Worth Wrestling With
- Where in your business does AI produce something that sounds finished — confident, polished, and ready to send — so that you’ve stopped double-checking it against what you actually know?
- If the smoother, easier answer would never be questioned by anyone, what’s actually stopping you from sending it anyway?
- In this case, the seller, the buyer, and both realtors are probably hoping for a clean and conclusive report so they can quickly move to close. In your business, whose relationship would be hardest to risk by telling an inconvenient truth — a good client, a steady referral source, someone who calls you back? What would it cost you to tell them the truth anyway?
- Des established disciplines in his business and McKinney built a written constitution to keep his team’s AI tools inside real guardrails. What guardrail — a habit, a checklist, a final walkthrough — keeps your own use of AI accountable to something beyond convenience?
I’ve helped businesses navigate a few of these waves — the Internet in the ’90s, wireless in the ’00s. Each month I work with a small number of owners on these kinds of questions around AI. If that’s you, feel free to reach out. I also publish a weekly AI market intelligence newsletter with a strategic and faith-based lens. Find it on Substack at Faithful Intelligence.
A note on process: This article was developed in collaboration with AI tools — reflecting the very intersection this newsletter explores. The research, theological convictions, and editorial judgment are my own; AI assisted in drafting and refinement; human editing shaped the final version.
