THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT: SELF-CONTROL

 

THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT: SELF-CONTROL

Gal. 5:22, 23 The fruit of the Spirit 4 love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…..NLT

Self-control is not a gift, it’s a fruit of the Spirit. It is not something that only a few of the children of God have been given, it’s something that all of us should have. If we are living in Christ, we will have self-control. It may be something that we struggle with, but it’s something that we gain more and more of as we live in Christ. It is one of the ways that others can see the Spirit of Christ in us.

It is our personal responsibility to live under the control of the Holy Spirit. We must always strive to live close to the heart of God. The farther we live away from God, the less self-control we will have. It is a matter of the will whether or not the Spirit controls us. He will not fight us for control. We must surrender our all to the lordship of Christ over us before the Spirit can refine us and mold us into the person God created us to be.

Self-control affects every area of our lives. If we find ourselves unable to control ourselves, we are not living in Christ as we should be.

We are to control what we look at. Matt. 6:22-23 This is a sobering reality. It is so easy to look at unholy things. What do we view for entertainment. What do we read? What do we look at when looking at people?

We are to control our emotions. Matt. 5:22 Are you easily angered? Do you let your emotions cause you to act crazily? Do you wear your emotions on your sleeves? Yes, we do get emotional, and it’s not a bad thing. But we need to remain in control of our emotions as much as possible.

We are to control our judgmental spirits. Matt. 7:1-5 Let’s face it, we are quick to judge a person before we even know them. We judge them without any clue as to why they are the way they are or do what they do. We must learn with the Spirit’s help to not be so quick to judge. We don’t know the heart, only God does. Instead of judging, we should pray for others and show them grace and mercy.

We are to control what we feed our souls. Phil. 4:8 Remember, what goes in comes out. You determine the health of your soul by what you feast on.

Self-control is the discipline of living in close fellowship with Christ. How close are you living to Christ today?