“. . . the fruit of the spirit is . . . self-control. . .” (Gal. 5:22-23)
Not too long ago I watched the movie “Castaway” with Tom Hanks. He was stranded on this island after a plane crash in the ocean. He had nothing to eat at first but coconuts. He had to master the art of opening a coconut, especially without spilling the coconut milk. As hard as it was to open the coconuts, he finally developed a technique of doing it and he reaped the benefits of his efforts.
Today we are going to talk about a fruit that just may be the hardest or one of the hardest for us to get to. It may be one of the hardest for us to crack open. The great thing about the fruit of self-control is once you get it open, you will reap the wonderful milk inside. This fruit of self-control is a fruit that opens many great things to us in life. What this fruit will do for every area of your life is a wonderful blessing waiting to happen! Today we will finish up our series on the fruit of the Spirit with an examination of the fruit of Self-Control. This fruit is one that will be worth the effort to obtain!
Defining self-control.
• The meaning in the original means: “to grip” or to “take hold of.”
• This word describes a person who is willing to get a grip on their lives and take control of areas that will bring them success or failure.
• It is the power to keep oneself in check.
• It is the quality that gives victory over fleshly desires.
How well are you able to handle self-control? For instance, how well do you handle your speed in school zones? 20 mph is not very fast. You’re driving along at 40 or 45 mph and suddenly you have to consciously almost step on the brake to get your speed down to 20mph. Would you be as conscientious of the school zones if there was no fear of getting a speeding ticket?
If we were truthful, we would probably try to push the limit every chance we get. In fact that has been proven to be the case. That is why they raised the fines and increased the patrols. Unless you intentionally keep a diligent eye on the speedometer and exercise self-control, you will be speeding through a school zone. Self-control does not “come naturally.”
Although the ancient Greeks highly regarded the virtue of self-control and often praised it in their literature, the Bible rarely mentions it. Self-control is the ability to manage your own actions and emotions. As Christians we are to always be controlled by the Holy Spirit Himself. For the Christian, self-control is the result of a life entirely directed by the Holy Spirit.
Anything uncontrolled can harm you and your relationships.
• Think about people who accomplish things, they have the ability to exercise self-control.
• John Maxwell writes: “In reading about the lives of great people, I found that the first victory they won was over themselves.”
• There was an office sign that read: “If you could kick the person responsible for most of your troubles, you wouldn’t be able to sit for a week.”
• It is always easy to blame others for our failures, but many times we are our own worst enemy because we lacked the self-control to put in the effort we should have to be successful.
• The Bible talks about some areas in our lives that are negatively affected when uncontrolled.
• Anger- Proverbs 29:11; “A fool always loses his temper, but a wise man holds it back.”
Uncontrolled Lust- Proverbs 6:26; “For on account of a harlot one is reduced to a loaf of bread.”
Uncontrolled Spending- Proverbs 21:20; “There is precious treasure and oil in the dwelling of the wise, but a foolish man swallows it up.”
Drinking- Proverbs 23:29-35; READ from Bible.
Uncontrolled Ambition- Proverbs 23:4. READ from Bible.
• And the list goes on. When we loose control of areas of our life, that area will hurt us.
Do you know what the Biblical prerequisite for self-control is? It’s self-denial.
Self-denial is the surrender of my own personal interests and desires in favor of those of others. As a Disciple of Jesus Christ it means I completely abandon my right to demand my own way and let the Holy Spirit take complete charge and control of my life.
As a result, doing the will of God becomes second nature to me. My daily walk with Jesus under the direction of the Holy Spirit has been renewed so often that it seems completely natural or inborn to do things His way, not mine.
For the Christian, self-control is a spiritual grace. In the secular world we often associate self-control with willpower. Self-control or willpower would be implemented in such things as dieting, quitting smoking, exercise, gambling, alcohol, work habits, ethics, and living within your means. These are only just a few; you can probably add many others to this list.
Where does self-control come from? How can we become better at mastering self-control? In our Christian walk nothing is ever accomplished by our own personal works, efforts, or merit. The entire Christian life is a walk of grace in total surrender and dependency upon the Holy Spirit.
I got to wondering, does the Bible say anything specific to help us know where self-control comes from and how we can improve in that area? I found it in Paul’s writings to Timothy. Paul affirms self-control is a spiritual grace in II Timothy 1:7, “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” It is God who gives us the spirit of self-control or self-discipline.
It comes by grace through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, not by any personal effort on my part other than total surrender and obedience to Him. Christian self-control always honors Jesus, not myself.
THE MARKS OF A SELF-CONTROLLED LIFE. 1 CORINTHIANS 9:24-27
• READ 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
• From this passage we see three marks of a self-controlled life.
1. A self-controlled life is lived with purpose. (24-26)
Athletes are probably the best examples of a self-controlled life. It’s not that they enjoy working out or running or eating a restricted diet, but they must do it to remain in tip-top shape—to be the best they can be.
• In our 1 Corinthians passage, Paul says that all who run a race run to win. He tells us to run in such a way that we win.
• Winners do not put in half-hearted efforts, they give it their all. Are you struggling in your relationship with Jesus, with your spouse or children? Are you really giving it your all?
• In verse 26 Paul says that he has purpose, that all he does is guided by his purpose in life of reaching people for Jesus.
• When I surrendered to the ministry, I promised God that I would complete my seminary degree. That was my purpose. The seminary work was not easy. It took a lot of time and effort. But I made a promise to God. My purpose was to complete my degree. It took a lot of self-control to make the time to study and write papers.
• A life without purpose is a life without self-control because there is nothing to anchor to.
• Paul says we are striving for an imperishable wreath! We will reap benefits that far exceed anything this world can offer.
2. A self-controlled life is lived with discipline. (27)
• In our passage, Paul says that he disciplines his body to make it a slave. He was not going to let the appetites of the body ruin his ministry. When Paul says he disciplined his body, he was saying he would give himself a knockout punch to keep him in line.
The word used for “discipline: means to “hit under the eye”. Most people are slaves to their body. I have gained weight because I do not exercise like I should and I want to eat the moment my body tells me it is hungry.
A lot of people get in trouble with the opposite sex because they let their hormones do the talking instead of taking control of them. Without discipline, we will get nowhere in life. If we are not disciplined enough to set aside time for God, we will not grow. We will live with an empty faith, void of any power because we were not disciplined enough to read, pray, study and serve.
Paul said he exercised self-control. He was disciplined enough to stay away from all that would negatively affect his performance. I remember an old Saturday Night Live mock commercial. John Belushi was sitting at a breakfast table smoking, and eating little chocolate donuts. They showed him winning Olympic field events, waving the American flag. Then he told how the little chocolate donuts were the breakfast of champions.
I tried it, they don’t work. It takes discipline to reach goals. In Paul’s day, athletes would deny themselves things that were lawful if those things would get in the way of winning the perishable wreath.
3. A self-controlled life is lived in submission to something greater than self.
• In the Corinthians passage, Paul said he disciplined his body so that he would not be disqualified. The athletes of Paul’s day followed strict training regiments; they could be disqualified from running in the race if they were to be found to have broken any of the rules.
We have the same thing today. Olympic athletes can be banned from the competition for taking certain performance enhancing drugs and even simple cold medications. The athletes submit themselves to something higher than themselves.
As Christians, the key to self-control is submitting ourselves to the Lordship of Jesus in our lives. We have to be willing to allow Jesus to infiltrate and influence our lives!
• Romans 12:1 - 2 (NASB) “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”
The very act of presenting your body to God is an act of self-control! You have a higher calling than just satisfying the appetites of the flesh.
Let’s look at some AREAS WHERE THIS FRUIT SHOULD BE EXPRESSED.
Self-control should be evident in all areas of our lives, but here are four for us to consider and work with.
1. In our bodies. (1 Cor 9:27) In the Corinthians passage we looked at, Paul said that he would make his body his slave, he would not be mastered by his body. I really can’t talk a lot about this one since I struggle with it. We really need to pray for self-control when it comes to our bodies, whether it is the amount of food we consume, or if we are struggling with other appetites of the flesh.
Too many relationships have been ruined because a person would not put on the brakes when it came to satisfying their flesh. If you are struggling with this, spend a lot of time in prayer about it and seek the help of your church family.
Prayer is an important factor in Christian self-control. The Lord does not want us to be lacking in any area of spiritual graces. Jesus promises us in Luke 11:13, “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” In giving us the Holy Spirit, God will cultivate in us the fruit of self-control when we need it, and when we ask Him for it.
2. The second area we can express the fruit of self-control is in our minds. I have always said the battle is in and with the mind. What you think eventually comes out. The key is to master the mind by submitting our thoughts to Christ. Jesus needs to be the Lord of our minds. We need to fill our minds with good things!
3. We express the fruit of self-control in our tongues. This can be one of the most difficult for people to deal with. In James 3:7-8 we are told: For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race. But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. How many lives have been destroyed, or changed in a bad way, because of something another person said because they could not control their tongue. An unbridled tongue can do a lot of damage.
4. We express the fruit of self-control in our Spiritual growth. We will not grow spiritually without self-discipline. There are a lot of distractions; there is a lot of temptation. It takes a real commitment to Jesus to be able to grow spiritually. We must understand how important it is for us to set aside the time we need to pray, study, read, meditate, and to spend time in fellowship with one another. Jesus needs to be the center, not an afterthought.
There are areas in all our spiritual lives as Disciples of Jesus where we need to allow the Spirit to cultivate in us the fruit of self-control. Where do you need to be better at self-control?
The fruit of the Spirit is something that God wants you to enjoy. Fruit is good, it tastes good and it is good for you. God wants you to dive deep into the fruit bowl and enjoy the blessings He has in store for you! Self-control is an awesome fruit with awesome effects on the life of the one who embraces it!
There was a father who noticed that his son lacked self-control and decided to confront him about it. Before he had a chance to do so, however, he felt the Spirit begin to deal with him. He realized that his son lacked self-control because he lacked it too.
“After seeking the Lord for direction, the father recognized he needed to develop discipline in certain areas of his own life. He then apologized to his son for failing to set a good example.
“Next, he began to incorporate spiritual disciplines into his everyday life through consistent Bible reading, prayer, and personal devotions. The change in his father had such influence on the boy that shortly afterward, the son also began to change. The difference was so dramatic that the boy’s baseball coach called the father to ask what he’d done to cause such improvement. The boy’s attitude had changed, and he no longer had a temper. The father responded, ‘My son has changed because I’ve changed.’”
Self-control is that great quality which comes to a person when Christ is in their heart, that quality which makes them able to live and to walk in the world, and yet to remain unspotted from the world.
Christ calls us to be effective and productive witnesses and servants. Self-control is one of the spiritual qualities or virtues that will give us the power to be more effective and productive for His kingdom.
Where do you need the spiritual grace of self-control? Seek the Lord for direction, and let Him mold you into a Disciple that is controlled at all times and in all circumstances by the Holy Spirit. We all would do well to make the prayer of Sir Alec Paterson our own: “O God, help us to be masters of ourselves that we may be servants of others.”
My prayer is that the Holy Spirit increase our measure of self-control so that through it we might bring glory to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
