The Myth of Self-Control

In the world we live in, we often find ourselves doing our best to be the kind of people that we know we should be. What we fail to realize most of the time is that our efforts to become what we think we ought to be fall far short of what we truly ought to be. Why is this? I believe it is because our aim is off. We are shooting at the wrong target.

Let me try and explain. In Galatians 5, we find the list of character qualities that Paul refers to as “The Fruit of the Spirit.” The last of these character qualities is self-control. Now, understanding that English is a far cry from Greek (the original language in which the New Testament was written), there is not a way to really define what the original intent of Paul was to say here. Many of us when we hear the term, “Self-Control” immediately think of a person who is able to control themselves in their own power. I hope that by even reading that statement you got a question in your head that when something like this: “What did he just say?” We tend to think of John Wayne, a no-nonsense kind of thinking that says, “I’ll get done because of who I am.”

I don’t think I need to tell you that this isn’t at all what the Bible considers holy in the life of the Christ Follower. In fact, what God wants us to be is dependent on Him. This means it’s not about us, but about Him. In the King James Version, the word is translated, “temperance”, and it has the idea of being strong while at the same time being at rest. Here’s the idea I think Paul is trying to get at…

As His followers, we are called to abide (that is, live) in Him. It is in Him that our lives have the ability to do what He has called us to do. “Without me you can do nothing,” Jesus said. We must remember that in Him, and only in Him can we do anything. So when the Bible calls us to be “self-controlled”, I believe that God is actually calling us to be Spirit controlled. He holds the remote control of our life, and if we live in Him, He will guide us to where we need to be. We have the power of God at our disposal as we rest in Him. That’s what the word means, and that is what we are called to be.

We will talk more about this tomorrow, but in the meantime, stay connected to Christ, and we’ll see you on Sunday!