Why is self control a fruit of the spirit

God is faithful. He does not allow us to be tempted beyond our ability to endure, and he also provides a way out 1 Cor. Sharon L. She has been married to her wonderful husband, Mark, since , and they have one married daughter. Skip to main content. Theology for Everyone. The Fruit of the Spirit: Self Control. Sharon Sampson. Feb 19, Share on Facebook Tweet Widget. This post is the third in a series on the Fruit of the Spirit.

View the first installment and second installment. As Christians, we are called to be faithful to Him who is always faithful to us. If we are faithful in the small things, God will reward us. We see this in the parable of the talents, where Jesus tells of a Master who rewards those who are faithful:. See, I have made two more. Similarly, the gift of our life is set apart for God's use as He determines.

When we are bought with a price, we belong to ourselves no longer. The Old Covenant sacrifices produced a sweet smell that God declares in Leviticus ; and to be a fragrant aroma in His nostrils. In the same way, the gift of our life is "acceptable to God. The outward acts of a son of God spring logically from what has changed in the inner man. His mind is being renewed, and he is thus controlling himself to live according to God's will rather than in conformity to the insanity of this world.

The last word in verse 1, "service," is as important as any, for within this context it describes the service, not of a domestic slave, but of a priest in complete self-surrender performing his duties before God's altar I Peter It means that we must, first of all, be priests by our inward consecration and then we must lay our outward life on the altar in God's service.

This is what our works accomplish. Almost from the beginning of the Bible, sacrifice is one of the great keywords of God's way. God clearly alludes to Christ's sacrifice in Genesis 3, and the first sacrifices occur in Genesis 4.

The principle of sacrifice is then woven into the fabric of virtually every book until beginning with Christ, the Founder of Christianity, it becomes perhaps the master-word for the outward life of His followers.

Sacrifices are inherently costly to the giver, or there is no real sacrifice in the offering. What could be more costly than a person giving his life in service by living a way of the very highest of standards that his mind and body do not by nature and habit want to live?

It requires a decision that will from time to time bring intense pressure upon him to control himself against strong drives to go in an entirely different direction.

But he must control himself if he is to work in the service of God. The apostle John notes three powerful pulls that must be controlled: "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life" I John These, he says, are not of the Father but of the world, therefore they are not part of the standard that we must strive to live according to.

If we follow them, we will continue to be conformed to the world. Our eyes make us the recipients of a multitude of impressions. Many of them can excite us to desire something evil, and if we are complacent, we can be trapped in a sin almost without thinking.

That is precisely the problem! We must be thinking to control what we have power and responsibility over and turn from such things as if a hot poker were about to be jabbed into our eyes! When Joseph was about to be lured into sin, he ran, controlling his own part in that unfolding drama Genesis The body and mind possess appetites and needs that can easily lead to sinful excesses if not controlled. They can lead any of us away in a hundred different directions from the supreme devotion to Him that He desires for our good.

Note the senseless luxury of this present generation, the exaggerated care of the physical body, and the intemperance in eating and drinking, which are a curse and shame on America! Our culture has molded us to seek ample provision for the flesh and material comforts far beyond our needs, drowning the spirit and producing needless anxieties. We have to learn to subordinate the drive to satisfy these insatiable appetites so they do not master us and lead us into sin.

Paul's beseeching exhortation is that all activities done by means of brain, eye, tongue, hand and foot be consciously devoted to God and laid as a sacrifice upon His altar. These are costly offerings, and costly offerings often require control in their giving because we inherently desire to hang onto what is dear.

This same apostle exhorts us to "pray without ceasing" I Thessalonians Prayer is an act of worship, and a priest's daily work is serving God in behalf of men. This can be done only if the work of our life is worship, being done by God's help for God's purpose. We can do this only if we sacrifice ourselves for it. Sacrifice requires the surrender of our life and thus control of it.

What impressions we allow to be made upon our senses, the indulgences we grant our appetites, the satisfactions we seek for our needs, and the activities we engage in through this fearfully and wonderfully made instrument must now be controlled according to God's standards. Paul writes, "He who sows to his flesh will. Here is a powerful yet simple lesson from God: The body is a good servant but a bad master.

For our own good and God's glory, we must be its master. II Timothy makes a significant statement about the importance of self-control:. Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. According to Strong's Concordance , the final word of verse 7 is a noun meaning "discipline" or "self-control. God gives His Spirit to us to begin the spiritual creation that will bring us into His very image. Here, Paul ranks self-control right beside seemingly more "important" attributes of our Creator, such as courage, power and love. Remember, however, that the "fruit" of God's Spirit is written in the singular; it is one fruit, a balanced package needed to make a son of God whole.

These verses tell us what kind of men God is creating. Men of courage, power, and love—and men who are self-governing, sensible, sober, restrained and disciplined in their manner of life. These qualities are products of God's Spirit in us. Paul adds more to this concept of self-control in Titus Moffatt :.

For the grace of God has appeared to save all men, and it schools us to renounce irreligion and worldly passions and to live a life of self-mastery, of integrity, and of godliness in this present world, awaiting the blessed hope of the appearance of the Glory of the great God and of our Savior Christ Jesus, who gave Himself up for us to redeem us from all iniquity and secure Himself a clean people, with a zest for good deeds.

One reason God has given us grace is for us to express self-control. It is hard to imagine a Christian, preparing for the Kingdom of God, who does not strive for continual and resolute self-government, that is, one who allows his passions, tastes and desires unbridled freedom to express themselves.

That is what the world does! When we witness such a demonstration, it gives strong evidence that the person is unconverted. In this series, each fruit will be explored and related to our everyday lives. Just like physical fruit need time to grow, the fruit of the Spirit will not ripen in our lives overnight. As we mature in our faith, all the characteristics of our spiritual fruits will grow as well.

The ninth and last fruit of the Spirit is self-control. What exactly is self-control? Although, some people interpret self-control to mean abstinence.