Self-Control

The last part of the fruit of the Spirit is self-control. On the one hand, we need self control. On the other hand we need to deny ourselves and surrender to Christ. How do we do both? I think the more we surrender to Christ, the better we can have self-control. As we follow Him, not only are we declared righteous by what He did for us, not by our own doing, but our lives and desires will be changed and we will want to do what is righteous and overcome temptation through the Holy Spirit. That to me is what self-control is about.

James 1:12-15

Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

I believe self-control is doing what is right. It is overcoming temptation. It is walking in the Spirit and overcoming the lusts of the flesh. The Spirit leads us and this is part of the fruit of the Spirit which is evident in those who believe in Jesus Christ and trust in Him.

Galatians 5:16-25

I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

2 Peter 1:2-11

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.

Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

As we walk in our spiritual journey, these are the things that show that we are His. These are the things the Holy Spirit will guide us to grow in our faith. How can we have self-control? By giving it all to Jesus when we surrender to Him, and allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives, and putting God first, instead of ourselves, we can become closer to the people He wants to be and it will become easier to leave behind the things we no longer desire to do. It’s not easy, but we know that He is always with us to lead us to purity.

Matthew 16:24-27

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.

I think self-control is partly what Jesus meant by denying ourselves. It is willing to let go of our own desires and live for Him. It is putting others first before ourselves.

Galatians 2:20

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Because Jesus died for our sins, and He has given us grace that all who believe and trust in Him will be saved, we have become a new creation. We leave our old sinful nature behind and become a new person in Christ with the Holy Spirit living in us.

2 Corinthians 5:14-21

For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Now that those of us who believe and follow Christ are reconciled to God, we should seek to do His will and turn away from the sinful life we once knew. Thank God we are a new creation in Christ. We have been declared righteous and our sins are washed away. With the Holy Spirit in us, we have the strength to turn away from temptation. Let us keep our eyes focused on Christ. Remember our treasure is in heaven not in this world.

1 John 2:15-17

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

Self-control is overcoming temptation. It is turning away from the evil that this world offers. According to John, the biggest sins are lust and pride. Our flesh lusts after many things: sex, power, money, stuff, social status, and I am sure there are others. We all have weaknesses. The more we surrender to God, the more we stay in prayer and reading God’s word, the more we will be able to overcome them. We cannot do it on our own but only through the Holy Spirit within us.

Matthew 26:41

“Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Temptation is a struggle. We all have it because we are human. But God gives us strength through prayer and the Holy Spirit to overcome it. And in some cases He gives us the wisdom to run from it, especially when it comes to lust and sexual impurity.

1 Corinthians 6:18-20

Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

Because the Spirit lives within us from the moment we accept God’s free gift of grace and believe and trust in Jesus Christ, our bodies are God’s temple. It is sacred. Let us honor that by taking good care of it and abstaining from sexual immorality of any kind. Let us also honor it by how we take care of our bodies, which I need to work on as I get older! How we live Not only hoors God, but also shines a light on others as an example and as a witness.

1 Peter 2:11-12

Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.

What kind of witness will we be to those around us? As we live on this earth until we go home to be with our Father in heaven, let us live in a way that will glorify Him and that others will praise His name. To God be the glory. Jesus is the way, the only way.