THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT: SELF-CONTROL

Self-control comes from a Greek word meaning “strong, having mastery, able to control one’s thoughts and actions.”John Wesley’s mother once wrote him while he was a student at Oxford that“anything which increases the authority of the body over the mind is an evil thing.” This definition has helped me understand “self-control.”

Intemperance has brought about the fall of kings and tycoons. History illustrates this. Someone has said: “There are men who can command armies, but cannot command themselves. There are men who by their burning words can sway vast multitudes who cannot keep silence under provocation or wrong. The highest mark of nobility is self-control. It is more kingly than regal crown and purple robe.”

Elsewhere it has been said:
Not in the clamor of the crowded street, Not in the shouts and plaudits of the throng But in ourselves, are triumph and defeat.

Past history and current public examples illustrate how the excesses of
uncontrolled appetite and fleshly indulgence wreak damage in our hearts.
The sin of intemperance, lack of self-control, springs from two causes: first,
physical appetite; second, mental habit.
When we think of temperance, we usually think of alcohol. This is not unexpected because of the great efforts of temperance leaders who for years sought to eradicate this poison that affects so many people in the world. But somehow we silently countenance gluttony, which the Bible condemns as clearly as drunkenness. We also tend to overlook unkindness, gossip, pride, and jealousy. It is possible to be intemperate in all these areas, too. The Scripture says, “Those who live according to their sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have
their minds set on what the Spirit desires” (Rom. 8:5 NIV). Temperance, self￾control, as a fruit of the Spirit is the normal Christian life taking its exercise.

Temperance in our use of food is moderation. Temperance with respect to
alcohol is soberness. Temperance in sexual matters is abstinence for those who
are not married. Even for those of us who are married there may be times for
temperance, when we abstain by mutual consent from legitimate sexual activity
so we can give ourselves more fully to the study of God’s Word, prayer, and
good works (see 1 Cor. 7:5).

Temperance in regard to temper is self-control. Recently I was with a man
who parked in a prohibited zone at the airport. An attendant kindly asked him if
he would move the car as he was in a no-parking zone. Angrily he replied, “If
you don’t have police credentials, shut your mouth.” This Christian was so nervous and tense from shouldering so many responsibilities that he had almost totally lost control of his temper. He was intemperate. It was just as much a sin
as if he had become drunk.

Temperance in matters of dress is appropriate modesty. Temperance in defeat is hopefulness. Temperance in relation to sinful pleasure is nothing short of complete abstinence. Solomon wrote, “He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city” (Prov. 16:32). The Living Bible paraphrases the latter part of that verse to read, “It is better to have self-control than to control an army.” The writer of Proverbs said, “A man without self￾control is as defenseless as a city with broken-down walls” (25:28 LB).
Paul taught the importance of self-control. Any athlete who would win a race
must train himself to become the complete master of his body, he told his readers. He emphasized that the goal was not merely a corruptible but an incorruptible crown: “Everyone who competes in the games exercises self￾control in all things They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. . . . but I buffet my body and make it my slave, lest possibly, after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified” (1 Cor. 9:25–27).

In Peter’s list of Christian virtues, he says, “Add . . . to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience” (2 Peter 1:5–6 KJV). All these go together. And it is quite clear that when we allow our passions to rule us, the outcome at last is far more undesirable than can be imagined during the moment
of pleasurable fulfillment.

Who is to say where temperance stops and intemperance begins? Some Christians have an elastic conscience when it comes to their own foibles—and an ironbound conscience when it comes to the foibles of others. Maybe that’s why it is so easy for some Christians to condemn a person who takes an occasional sip of wine but never rebuke themselves for the sin of habitual
overeating. Compulsive overeating is one of the most widely accepted and
practiced sins of modern Western Christians. It is easy to condemn an adulterer, but how can the one who condemns do so when he is guilty of some other form of intemperance? Should each of us not have clean hands and a pure heart in all of life? Is one form of slavery more wrong in principle than another? Are we not just as tightly bound if the chains are made of ropes as of steel?

The appetite that controls one person may differ from the appetite that controls another. But if one person submits to a craving for possessions, is he so different from others who crave sex, gambling, gold, food, alcohol, or drugs? The need for temperance in every aspect of life has never been greater than it is today. At a time when violence, selfishness, apathy, and undisciplined living threaten to destroy this planet, it is imperative that Christians set an example.

The world needs this example—something steadfast it can hold on to, an anchor in a raging sea. For centuries Christians have proclaimed Christ as the anchor. If we who have the Holy Spirit living and working within us falter and fail, what hope is there
for the rest of the world?

Culled from Billy Graham's book, "the Holy Spirit "

Self control is really important in life if one wants to be successful.

I dey punish myself whenever I do things I normally frown about when others do it.

Not been going out for almost a month now for over spending in my last outing

JESUSisKING1:
THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT: SELF-CONTROL.
The sin of intemperance, lack of self-control, springs from two causes: first,
physical appetite; second, mental habit.
When we think of temperance, we usually think of alcohol. This is not unexpected because of the great efforts of temperance leaders who for years sought to eradicate this poison that affects so many people in the world. But somehow we silently countenance gluttony, which the Bible condemns as clearly as drunkenness. We also tend to overlook unkindness, gossip, pride, and jealousy. It is possible to be intemperate in all these areas, too. The Scripture says, “Those who live according to their sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have
their minds set on what the Spirit desires” (Rom. 8:5 NIV). Temperance, self￾control, as a fruit of the Spirit is the normal Christian life taking its exercise.
....."

Op, by the claim of yours, are we then to believe that Buddhists monks, for example, are all inhabited by the Holy Spirit, this since a majority of the practice self-control and self discipline as a religion?

helinues:
Self control is really important in life if one wants to be successful.

I dey punish myself whenever I do things I normally frown about when others do it.
Not been going out for almost a month now for over spending in my last outing

How is punishing yourself an exercise in self-control or self-discipline?

Kobojunkie:
How is punishing yourself an exercise in self-control or self-discipline?

it can stil be referred as self control. After all , i have been able to save the money i could have spent on outings

helinues:
it can stil be referred as self control. After all , i have been able to save the money i could have spent on outings

I guess you are right, if you take the punishment approach to acquiring self-control.

Self-Control

Duration: 55 seconds


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxwtgZ0_EYY

Lolz! Fruit of the spirit. Self-control. Hmm!

PastorM:
Self-Control

Duration: 55 seconds


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxwtgZ0_EYY

Self-control is one hard shit to abide to

Lemme reserve this post. Later i' ll read it