For many, self-control is the most difficult virtue of the Spirit’s fruit. Our society has, for the most part, given up on modeling self-control. What used to be considered a virtue is now labeled restrictive, legalistic, controlling, old-fashioned, and even foolish. Our culture tells us: “Be controlled by self, don’t control yourselves. Whatever impulses, desires, feelings, and thoughts you have, follow, do, and indulge those.”
(Robb Brunansky – The Cripplegate) As Christians, we must not follow the world down a path of self-indulgence. In fact, faithful obedience to Jesus requires self-control. A Christian who lacks self-control will find his sanctification short-circuited and his holiness hindered. Many Christian virtues are connected to self-control, which raises a few questions, starting with, What is self-control?
Self-control is mastery over natural desires and is produced by the Spirit in all believers. There are two crucial elements here. The first is that self-control is produced by the Spirit in all believers. We must understand the fruit is the ability to control oneself. However, the power is not self-generated, but Spirit-generated, self-control.
This distinction is important, separating a display of self-control from pagan concepts of deprivation and ascetic lifestyles. Self-control comes from the Spirit of God, not from some humanly devised rituals or masochistic treatment of oneself. The distinction also reminds us we are responsibly dependent on God. Though we are responsible to master our natural desires, we cannot do any of these actions on our own.
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