Self control...is that really a 'fruit' of the Spirit?~Galatians 5.22
11/24/2009 11:49:06 PM
Galatians #23 in series
Galatians 5.22 – The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control.
Good Morning, Friends~
Love, joy, peace. . . qualities which are produced in us as we walk in the Holy Spirit.
Patience, kindness, goodness. . . those which we give to others, how we are able to treat others when we are led by the Spirit. And finally,
faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. . . the marks of a believer who stays committed to the ongoing training of the Holy Spirit. I suppose of the nine ‘fruits’, it is self control that tends to make folks grimace, and it almost seems out of place with the other fruits.
Self control comes from the Greek words,
‘enkrateia, enkrates’ – to have power over oneself, to hold oneself in
It is the quality of discipline – choosing to control your desires in order to give yourself to what is best.
We need self control for balance, for controlling negative emotions, to exercise restraint—like in spending, consumption, controlling our tempers, and biting our tongues.
Plato used the word to mean self-mastery--the one who has mastered his desires and love of pleasure. Consider what Paul said, “Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.” (1 Corinthians 9.25) Our need for self control really came when Adam and Eve failed the temptation test back in Genesis, chapter three.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer said this about temptation – “In our members there is a slumbering inclination toward desire which is both sudden and fierce. With irresistible power, desire seizes mastery over the flesh. It makes no difference whether it is sexual desire or ambition or vanity or desire for revenge or love of fame and power or greed for money, or, finally that strange desire for the beauty of the world, of nature. Joy in God is. . . extinguished in us and we seek all our joy in the creature. At this moment God is quite unreal to us, He loses all reality, and only desire for the creature is real. Satan does not fill us with hatred of God, but with forgetfulness of God. . . The powers of clear discrimination and of decision are taken from us.” (Spoken by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was martyred for his faith and leadership in the Protestant movement in Hitler’s Germany.)
Self control – required to a lesser or greater degree when we are tempted – to be self indulgent. . , to satisfy our desires. Paul describes the struggle so well in Romans 7:
Exercising self control is knowing the right thing to do at the right time and doing it. Really, self control is the partner of discipline, and though discipline is not a popular word in our culture, I LOVE it! Discipline frees us up to become who we are God intended us to become, when we do not let temptation pull us this way or that. “The disciplined person is the person who can do what needs to be done when it needs to be done,” Richard Foster said in his Celebration of Discipline. (That book is amazing—filled with sound instruction that is life changing. It should have a place in your personal library.) Titus 2 tells us “the grace of God…teaches us to say “no”, and to live godly lives. We access God’s grace by ‘remaining in Jesus,’ or as we have talked about, ‘walking in the Spirit.’
So, self control, like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and gentleness, flows out of a vital relationship with Christ. Pray with me, won’t you? “Father, I pray that You would fill us to overflowing with Your Spirit. As You do, and as we let our roots grow deep in You and Your Word, produce in us the fruit of the Spirit. You said, ‘Everything is permissible—but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible—but not everything is constructive.’* Lord, what are those things which we have allowed into our lives that the Law doesn’t necessarily come against, but they are things that are not profitable or constructive to our lives—to our relationship with You. In a culture which denies itself nothing, Lord, speak to us about the bounty of a Spirit-filled life, and the fruit which it produces. Amen. So be it. Amen.
Grace and Peace to you, my friends~
Christine
*Paul in 1 Corinthians 10.23