Hello Church Family,
This month I’d like to share with you what the Lord has been teaching me. Just recently, I have been burdened by the fact that I have longed for, prayed for, and sought after the virtue of self-control for my whole Christian life. Being disciplined is a great aspiration, but I have never felt that I have totally mastered the art of self-control. I believe this is true for most of us. We long to use our time more wisely for the glory of God, and yet we are pulled in so many directions that it is hard to remain faithful to a regimented schedule. We long to be good stewards of our minds and thoughts by only thinking on things that are true, honorable, just, pure (Philippians 4:8), yet our minds are so easily distracted by the things of this world.
If you study the fruit of self-control in Scripture (yep…it’s a fruit! See Galatians 5:22-23 & II Timothy 1:7), you will see that it is a very popular topic of the New Testament. Pastors, older men, younger men, women, yes all Christians are commanded to be self-controlled. Proverbs 25:28 says “A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.” So how do we become more disciplined people?
Paul says in I Corinthians 9:25, “Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.” Then again in I Timothy 4:7-8 he states, “train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”
My encouragement is this: first, pray for God’s help. If self-control truly is a fruit of the Spirit, then you are going to need the Holy Spirit’s help.
Second, declare war on your sin. The fight for self-control in the Believer’s life is a fight against sin (remember, self-control is a command from God). Whether you are aware of it or not, there is a war going on in your body (Romans 7:23). Until we recognize that there is a battle going on and start fighting against sin, sin will continue to hold the front lines with temptation and evil thoughts.
I will leave you with this quote from my professor, Dr. Temple:
Our sensuality is the major battle supply line for our sinful struggle.
Fight the good fight,
Brian
This month I’d like to share with you what the Lord has been teaching me. Just recently, I have been burdened by the fact that I have longed for, prayed for, and sought after the virtue of self-control for my whole Christian life. Being disciplined is a great aspiration, but I have never felt that I have totally mastered the art of self-control. I believe this is true for most of us. We long to use our time more wisely for the glory of God, and yet we are pulled in so many directions that it is hard to remain faithful to a regimented schedule. We long to be good stewards of our minds and thoughts by only thinking on things that are true, honorable, just, pure (Philippians 4:8), yet our minds are so easily distracted by the things of this world.
If you study the fruit of self-control in Scripture (yep…it’s a fruit! See Galatians 5:22-23 & II Timothy 1:7), you will see that it is a very popular topic of the New Testament. Pastors, older men, younger men, women, yes all Christians are commanded to be self-controlled. Proverbs 25:28 says “A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.” So how do we become more disciplined people?
Paul says in I Corinthians 9:25, “Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.” Then again in I Timothy 4:7-8 he states, “train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”
My encouragement is this: first, pray for God’s help. If self-control truly is a fruit of the Spirit, then you are going to need the Holy Spirit’s help.
Second, declare war on your sin. The fight for self-control in the Believer’s life is a fight against sin (remember, self-control is a command from God). Whether you are aware of it or not, there is a war going on in your body (Romans 7:23). Until we recognize that there is a battle going on and start fighting against sin, sin will continue to hold the front lines with temptation and evil thoughts.
I will leave you with this quote from my professor, Dr. Temple:
Our sensuality is the major battle supply line for our sinful struggle.
Fight the good fight,
Brian
4 comments:
Self-control is neat. It means we control ourselves...neat.
This post has been on here for like five bajillion years (real time increment by the way). Way to show self-control by not blogging and feeding the narcissism of the internet as a whole! Kudos!!!
Did you vote no on my polls? Did you vote no twice on the alien question?!?
U R Lame. I used T9 or R4 or whatever to leave you that scintillating comment.
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