To be self-controlled is to restrain ourselves by not giving in to our depraved desires. We can say “no” when everything in us is saying “yes” for all the wrong reasons. We deny worldly lusts when we withhold our consent from them and when we refuse the delight they suggest. God will give us the ability to withstand temptations and will provide a way of escape when they become too severe (1 Corinthians 10:13).
God's reforming grace also allows us to say “yes” by working on the positive by living “self-controlled, upright and godly lives” in this present age. Since we’ve been redeemed from this world, we don’t have to be conformed to it. Here are seven practical ways that we can both say “no” to that which is destructive and say, “yes” to what is helpful and build self-control in our lives.
• Admit you have a problem with self-control.
• Yield to the lordship of Christ. Galatians 5:16: “Live by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.”
• Cultivate the disciplines of Bible reading and prayer.
• Invest in spiritual friendships. Ecclesiastes 4:10: “If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!”
• Curtail bad influences. Avoid those things that tempt us. 1 Corinthians 15:33: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
• Practice good habits. Job 31:1 says that Job made a covenant with his eyes to not gaze lustfully at a woman.
• Welcome gracious correction. Things would have ended differently for Samson if had listened to those who warned him to let God control his sex drive.
- Brian Bill