So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. 1 Peter 1:13a NLT
Self- control can sometimes be difficult to achieve; but in preparation for just about any situation, the task seems so doable. “I’m going to stick to my diet this time!” “When they are mean to me, I’m just going to be nice and not say anything hurtful.” “On my drive to work, I will listen to my Jesus music and remain calm the whole way.” Seems pretty doable, right? Riiiiight. It’s when we get caught off guard that our self-control is put to the test. We have ahold of it for a little while, perhaps a few months, weeks, days or even hours or minutes…and then one little thing pops up and BOOM we “lose it”. We fall off our diet, get road rage, yell at that person, spend the money we have been saving etc. etc. It’s a constant struggle for many of us, myself included. But there is hope!
When I look at the Fruits of the Spirit (meaning what is produced by God’s Spirit), I feel like self-control is so important because in many cases it directly affects the other fruits. Says Galatians 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Self-control helps me be kind to someone who’s mean to me. I can say no, I don’t have to do what I really want to do.
Our fleshly-man (our sinful nature) is constantly battling our spirit-man (God’s nature) (Galatians 5:17) and unfortunately, sometimes our fleshly-man wins. But don’t be discouraged! The Lord gave us his Spirit to help guide us in controlling the fleshly-man. (Galatians 5:16). As followers of Christ we all have, a purpose, a job to do for God’s Kingdom. “Living for God” and living with a “kingdom mentality” will challenge our self-control, among other things. And let me tell you although we often try (super hard) to be “error-free”, we will fail; probably more than once. You are not alone. There are many examples in the Bible of people like Peter, David, etc., who were walking with Him, following Him and desiring to do/be good and sometimes failed to do what was right in God’s eyes. But we are His, He knows our intentions and shows grace to us (unmerited favor), and has mercy on us (forgiveness and kindness), because HE LOVES US!
It is encouraging to know that even when we “lose it”, we don’t lose Him! In Christ, I have the power to “get ahold of myself” because God has ahold of me! (Isaiah 41:13).
For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. 1 John 5:4
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