Self Control is something we all struggle with, (if you don't then I applaud you, and you can stop reading right now)
The phrase "Self Control" is mentioned 24 times in the Bible (ESV). It is used in the positive sense, and in the negative sense
1Co 9:25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.
1Co 9:26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air.
1Co 9:27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
And in the negative:
2Ti 3:1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.
2Ti 3:2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,
2Ti 3:3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good,
2Ti 3:4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
2Ti 3:5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.
2Ti 3:6 For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions,
yet it is mentioned more in the positive sense, of what we will get or complete, if we exercise self control.Those who didn't exercise self control, paid dearly: Esau, Samson, Saul, David and even Moses, all failed to have self control and paid for it dearly. Esau gave up his birthright because he was hungry (Gen. 25:29-34), couldn't he have waited? Couldn't he have made something for himself? Samson, could not resist telling the secret to his strength. He was enslaved by the Philistines, forced to grind grain, had his eyes poked out. Saul, let himself be overcome with anger, trying to kill David. He never had peace, and eventually killed himself. David, he could not control his lust for Bathsheba, committed adultery and then murder to cover his sin. His first child with her, died because of that sin. Moses, when he was told to speak to the rock, he struck it in anger, causing him never to enter the Promise Land.
Lack of self control is something everybody struggles with , it comes in many forms: in the form of lust, want for wealth, food, power, and almost anything else you can think of. What happens when you try to obtain self control over something you have let yourself do in the past? well, as I grit my teeth and say I will never do that again, I try to pray harder, but then I get tempted, and I do it anyway, always digging the hole deeper, and deeper. So what can we do to gain self control? The answer is nothing, now before you jump to conclusions, let me explain what I mean. We are humans, and except for in rare cases, we can't fight addictions alone. We need help, that is why we have counseling centers. Places like Teen Challenge, because we as humans have figured out we can't do it alone. Why is this? Why can't we do it alone? before I answer that, let me tell you something, the biblical meaning of self control is walking by the spirit , under the lordship of Christ [Priola, 2013] The only way we can control ourselves is though Grace, first we are saved though grace, (not perfection) second we are changed though grace (we are not perfect after we are saved) thirdly we are given not what we deserve though grace, (not taking into account our sins before or after we are saved) God wants us to realize that we CANNOT do it on our own, that is the answer the question. We must admit that we can't do it on our own, before God will intervene on our behalf. I find myself praying quite often: God help ME to overcome this, or that. I should be praying: "God please overcome this FOR me, because I can not do it at all.
Tit 2:11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people,
Tit 2:12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,
Tit 2:13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
Tit 2:14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
as you can see in Titus 2:11, and 14 God saved us though Grace,
as you can see in verses 12, and 14 God wants to change, train, and purify us.
in verses 13, we wait for our hope, which is Christ, who is also our reward: Eternal life
Your only hope of ever controlling an addiction, or ever controlling yourself, is though God. you can on rare occasions overcome an addiction with the help of people. But you will never be free from it.
Christ, when he died on the cross, freed those who accept his gift, from judgment by the law,
Rom 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
The law, brings to light sin, and therefor leads to death.
Rom 7:4 Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God.
Rom 7:5 For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death.
Rom 7:6 But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.
Rom 7:7 What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, "You shall not covet."
Rom 7:8 But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead.
once we accept his gift we are apart from the law, and the sin lies dead. However this can lead to another trap, which would give us licence to sin. This is not the case, and in one of my future posts, I shall cover that subject.
