9 Self Control
“The Fruit of the Holy Spirit No 9- Self- Control?”
For the past several weeks, we have been studying all the Fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23 . Can anyone tell me what this verse says?
Galatians 5:22-23is one of the most popular passages in the Bible. It lists the Fruit of the SpiritBut the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Despite the long list of attributes, “fruit” doesn’t refer to individual items. It refers to a general outcome or result. The result of the Holy Spirit working in a person’s life is love, joy, and all the rest. These fruits are not the product of hard work or self-improvement.
We must cooperate with the Holy Spirit, but it is still the Holy Spirit doing the work in us.
As we have seen, the Fruit of the Spirit grows in our lives when we are living with the Holy Spirit in us.
This week, we will study the last fruit, self-control. Self-control is actually listed last on Paul's list off the fruits of the Spirit in his letter to the Galatians, but that certainly doesn’t make it the least important. If you do a search, you’ll find that the term is not often used in the Bible either, yet self-control is so important in helping us to make good choices , the choices that God would want us to make.
Our sinful flesh has a really hard time resisting the persistent tug of our sinful desires.
But! By practicing self-control, we can master those desires.What is self-discipline?
When we practice control or restrain ourselves from all kinds of feelings, impulses, and desires, which includes the desire for physical and material comfort, then we’re practicing self-control.
Why is self-discipline so important?
Paul tells us to keep ourselves clean both physically and spiritually because we love God we would want to take care of what He has given us (that is, our bodies)
2 Corinthians 7:1Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God.
In his letter to the Romans, Paul tells them:
Romans 12:1-2
And so, dear brothers and sisters,[a] I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice-the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.[] 2 Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
You belong to God…….. take care of yourself.
It’s not easy…self-control is hard. It’s one of the hardest things for a believer to work on"I wish I had more self-control!" How many times have you heard someone say that-or said it yourself? Whether it's sticking with a diet an exercise program or knowing when to hold your tongue, most people feel they come up short in the self-control department.
Even the Bible is outspoken on its importance.
Proverbs 25:28
28 A person without self-control is like a city with broken-down walls.
So what is self-control?
The phrase seems to imply a hefty dose of sheer willpower.
The Greek word for self-control in Galatians 5:22-23 is "egkrateia" which means "temperance: the virtue of one who masters his desires and passions, especially his sensual appetites."
A lion tamer has control over a lion he can make the lion (which is naturally wild) do whatever he wants it to do. He can make the lion do something it doesn't want to do (like roll over), or keep the lion from doing something that it does want to do (like eating the man). Clearly, the man is in control of the lion.
Today we're talking about self-control.
With self-control, we control ourselves.
Paul talks about his own struggle with sin in
Romans 7:15-20: “What I want to do I do not do…the evil I do not want to do-this I keep on doing…it is sin living in me that does it.”
We’ve all had to resist temptations at some point in our lives, and we’ve all given in at some point tooWe control our desires – our "want". Through self-control, we keep ourselves from doing something bad that we shouldn't do, and we make ourselves do good things that we should do.
For Christians, without self-discipline, our appetites for comforts and pleasures can easily become our idols, mastering our decisions and purchases and the use of our time. Lack of self-control ultimately leads us into sin or otherwise gets in the way as we try to walk with God. If your spiritual body does not govern your physical body, you could easily become a target for Satan
1 Corinthians 7:5
It's like running a race
Paul talks about self-discipline in his letter to the Corinthian church. The people living there would have been very familiar with the Greeks Olympic Games which took place right near the city of Corinth. They knew all about the severity of athletic training, especially if one wanted to win the “prize” or the “crown.”
Because of this cultural knowledge, Paul used this sporting event as a metaphor about living a disciplined Christian life:
1 Corinthians 9:25-27
25 All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. 26 So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. 27 I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.
Paul is saying that it’s important to keep his body under the discipline and control of his mind, not the other way around.
Self-control is needed to win the “race” that will help us live a life that is holy and pleasing to God.
For Paul, the “race” was winning souls for Christ; a goal which he states four times in 1 Corinthians 9:25-27
19 Even though I am a free man with no master, I have become a slave to all people to bring many to Christ. 20 When I was with the Jews, I lived like a Jew to bring the Jews to Christ. When I was with those who follow the Jewish law, I too lived under that law. Even though I am not subject to the law, I did this so I could bring to Christ those who are under the law. 21 When I am with the Gentiles who do not follow the Jewish law,[a] I too live apart from that law so I can bring them to Christ. But I do not ignore the law of God; I obey the law of Christ.
22 When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some.
In what way is self-control a fruit of the Holy Spirit?
Self-control as a fruit of the Spirit is a bit of a paradox. How can the ability to control one be the result of being controlled by someone else? There is a (false) theory that humans do not have free will. It starts with materialism-the belief that all that exists in the universe is matter and energy. There is no God, soul, spirit, thought, or will. Everything we do is predetermined by influences beyond our control.Some of those influences are primarily internal, linked to our being such as:
1.A tall person will be less likely to wash dishes because he will have to stoop to reach the sinkOr some are external such as2. Someone who uses paper plates will be less likely to wash dishes because there are no dishes to wash. Most of these influences are tiny, yet they culminate to make behavior so complex that it appears random. To the casual observer, we are acting on our own will. But, if all factors could be known, our actions are determined by the interaction of our physical selves with the outside world.
Hence (according to the theory), there is no free will.But The Bible teaches that, in a certain sense, the unbeliever has no free will. There are influences beyond his control. Unbelievers are “Slaves to sin”
Romans 6:16-20
16 Don't you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living. 17 Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you. 18 Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living.
19 Because of the weakness of your human nature, I am using the illustration of slavery to help you understand all this. Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy.
20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right
Our sinful nature “predetermines” us to choose selfish, harmful behaviors, and our fallen world aids the process.
Without Christ, we are not free to completely release our thoughts and actions from sinful influences by simply always choosing what is good.The Holy Spirit can help you in your struggle. He works in your lifeand you will be able to pull away from the cause of the sinful nature and make a truly independent choice. That is the first step of self-control.With the help of the Spirit you'll have a larger range of choices . Instead of choosing one sin over another, you will then make choices based on love for God and rooted in the wisdom of God.
Self-Control In Jesus
Once again, the perfect example of this fruit, self-control, is found in Jesus. Jesus is the one person who had perfect self-control His entire life. The Bible calls Jesus the one who "had no sin" which means He never sinned at all.
2 Corinthians 5:21
21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin,[a] so that we could be made right with God through Christ.
The Bible says that Jesus was tempted to sin in every way that we are tempted,but He never sinned
Hebrews 4:15
15 This High Priest of ours (Jesus)understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.
Jesus not only had self-control to keep Himself from doing wrong things.
He had so much self-control that He was always able to the right things! He always did what God wanted Him to do, even when it was very, very difficult and painful. On the night that Jesus was arrested, before the soldiers came to take Him, He was on the Mount of Olives praying to God.
Jesus prayed,
Luke 22:42
42 "Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine."
Jesus knew that He would go through terrible suffering when He was arrested and nailed to a cross. No one would want to suffer by hanging on a cross! But by His incredible self-control, Jesus chose to obey God's will rather than doing what He wanted to do.
Think about all the power that Jesus had. He had done so many miracles – He had healed the sick, created food to feed thousands, and cast out demons. He even raised people from the dead! Jesus could have stopped the soldiers and the people from nailing Him to that cross. He had all the power of God at His fingertips.
He could have easily stopped the people from crucifying Him
Matthew 26:53
53 Don't you realize that I could ask my Father for thousands[a] of angels to protect us, and he would send them instantly?
But He had the self-control to do exactly what God asked Him to do, even through all that pain and suffering.
Jesus trusted that God's plan was perfect. He wanted to save you and me from the punishment of our sin, so He willingly went to the cross. And after He did, God raised Him from the dead and now Jesus is sitting at the right hand of God
Acts 7:56After Steven gave his speech and rebuked the Jewish leaders they dragged him out and stoned him and while he was dying
56 And he told them, "Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honor at God's right hand!"
Jesus always had the self-control to keep Himself from sinning, and to obey God.
The reason He had this amazing self-control was because He was full of the Holy Spirit, and He spent as much time as He could with His Father.
The more time we spend with God, the more good fruit God will grow in our lives – and Jesus had the most spiritual fruit of anyone.
Self-Control In Us
If we are tempted to do somethinghow do we have that kind of control over our own thoughts and actions?
There are two ways to keep us from doing it. Someone could stop you, or you could stop yourself. Or you can keep yourself from doing that thing? Self-control is when you control you, when you make yourself do the right thing.
Just like a lion naturally wants to prowl the jungle or roar at a human, ournatural self (our sin nature) wants to do bad stuff sometimes. What are some bad things that we are tempted to do sometimes?
Also, there are some good things that we should do, that our natural self just doesn't want to do. It takes self-control to do the right things that we are supposed to do.
The term "self-control" means no other person is doing it for us. But that doesn't mean that we have to do it on our own!God's Holy Spirit that lives inside of each believer is the One who is really giving us the power to have self-control. When we believe in Jesus, God's Spirit fills us – just like it filled Jesus
Luke 4:1
Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness,[a]
We can have self-control just like Jesus did when we depend on the Spirit to guide us. So no matter what is going on around us, we can keep from doing things that are wrong and instead do the things that are right.
God's grace teaches us to say no to godless ways and sinful longings. We must control ourselves. We must do what is right. We must lead godly lives in today’s world. So how much self is there in self-control?
What's up to us, and what's up to God?
Titus 2:11-13
11 For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. 12 And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, 13 while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed.
For the grace of God…teaches us to say ÔÇÿNo' to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives
Peter writes,2 Peter 1:5-7"Make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love" .
Yet Scripture also tells us that self-control is a gift.
2 Timothy 1:7
"For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline,".
in this present age" . Since the grace of God is our instructor, it is imperative that we do well as students.
To learn takes attentiveness-and humility. We have to trust that our teacher knows more than we do.
We need to accept that perhaps the lessons aren't going to be entertaining, relaxing or humorous. They may not satisfy our obvious desires, but, rather, lead our hearts toward deeper ones.
Becoming a good student in the school of self-control requires listening with the intention of learning what's being taught. With the Psalmist we can pray,
Psalm 86:11
"Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name"
What does a person with good self-control look like?
Often it's easier to come up with a list of people who clearly lack self-discipline.
We all know someone whose struggles with"the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life"
1 John 2:16
.16 For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world.
Self-control grows when we pay attention to
Philippians 4:8
8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
Take a bit of time each day to meditate on these things.
A large part of self-control is about removing our focus on who we are now and refocusing our attention on who God wants us to become.
"Lead us not into temptation," we pray, as Jesus instructed. Those words come after we've said, "Your kingdom come, your will be done"Matthew 6:9-13
The order of the requests matters, because self-control depends on how much we put God in control of our lives.
The more we desire God's will, the easier it is to choose it.
No matter how hard we try, there will still be times when, like Paul, we lament that, "I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do"Romans 7:18-19
We will stumble and fall, and we will get up and refocus our eyes on the prize. Romans 13:12tells us to"put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light"
Then we will pray to the Holy Spirit to renew the gift of self-control within us. And he will.
A decision made in the freedom of self-control will ensure future freedom. Whenever we follow unhealthy appetites or society’s lies, we limit our options in the future.
A sinful act is just another step down a dead-end road; the more steps we take, the harder it gets to make an independent choice in the future.
Remember that self-control is a gift from the Holy Spirit-not something we can muster up ourselves. It’s like the Holy Spirit is giving us a tool that we can use in our lives. That’s what the fruits of the Spirit are in Galatians 5:22-23.
They are gifts, not anything we can make happen on our own. It is the Holy Spirit living in our souls that gives Christians the power and ability to even begin to practice self-control so that we will not be overpowered by the “cravings of sinful man.”
As Paul said, “God did not give us a Spirit of timidity, but a Spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7).
We should not allow ourselves to be controlled by our old sinful nature, but rather by the Holy Spirit instead (Romans 8:9).
The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness (v.26), which gives us the strength to stand firm in the face of temptation.
We've talked about many fruits of the Spirit, and the Bible tells us that there are even more. Don't ever think that you have to grow this fruit on your own! In fact, you can't grow it on your own!
Jesus said, John 15:5"I am the vine. You are the branches. If anyone remains joined to Me, and I to him, he will bear a lot of fruit. You can’t do anything without Me."
We should use our self-control to submit to Christ. His word brings life. Christ allows us to be what we were designed to be, to display the glory we were created with.
His Spirit produces self-control in us, the ability to say “no” to fleshly lusts and live in moderation and wise elf-control.
Indulging in sin enslaves and destroys us.
Self-control frees us to live for Christ.
When we believe in Jesus, we enter God's kingdom and God's Spirit comes to live in us.
The fruit of God's Spirit grows and grows in us as we remain with Jesus – as we talk to Him, listen to Him, and read His word. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control grow in us and show in us because of our relationship with Jesus.