Fruit of the Spirit - Self-Control

Galatians 5:22-23

“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!”

            The last attribute listed as a fruit of the Spirit is “self-control”.  Self-control is the ability to control oneself. It involves moderation, constraint and the ability to say ‘no’ to our baser desires and fleshly lusts. All the fruits mentioned over the last couple weeks usher in a change in our character. That is the Holy Spirit’s work in us. We certainly don’t become a believer in Christ on our own and we can’t grow spiritually on our own either. It is in his letter to the Philippians that Paul says, “It is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” (Phil. 2:13)  The work of the Fruit of the Spirit in our lives is, simply put, every good thing that we do.

            If God were working in our lives one of the proofs would be the ability to control our own thoughts, words and actions. You see, our fallen nature is under the influence of sin.  Romans 6:6 calls this being a “slave to sin”.  “Filling a legitimate need through illegitimate means” is one way to define sin.  We are grossly incapable of knowing and choosing what will best meet our needs.

            Self-control leads us to perseverance (2 Peter 1:3-6) as we value the eternal instead of instant gratification. “By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires. In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.” Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing! rlkeller

Resource: https://www.gotquestions.org/fruit-Holy-Spirit-self-control.html