"Therefore, Prepare Your Minds for Action;
Be Self-Controlled..."
-1 Peter 1:13-
Konrad Heiden said, "Those who wish to transform the world must be able to transform themselves." Today we live in a society that follows the slogan- If it feels good, do it! Don't listen to your parents, listen to us. Don't listen to your pastor, listen to us. Don't follow the word of God, follow us. Just who are these "us"? Open up your morning newspaper, or turn on the evening news, and you discover who the "us" are. They are the "out of controllers", those who have lived in a land of fantasy for so long that they no longer know what reality is. They are the Hollywood "elite", or so they would like to think. They are the ones who tell you through their movies: It's ok to fornicate, it's ok to commit adultery, it's ok to live a perverted lifestyle, it's ok to steal, it's ok to murder, it's ok to do drugs. Shoot up and drink up, but whatever you do don't speak up against it. That's not cool! Speak out against these people, and you might just be labeled a radical right wing fundamentalist bigot. Or something even worse - a Christian!
What is the result of this uncontrolled type of thinking and behavior? How about one million Americans infected with the HIV, 1.3 million new cases of gonorrhea annually, syphilis is at a 40 year high, 500,000 new cases of herpes annually, 1.5 million unborn babies aborted each year, the divorce rate quadrupling, violent crime increasing 560% in the last 20 years. I could go on and on, but I think you get my point. Yet, these same people try to convince us that things are getting better. They probably still believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny too.
How often do we hear about men and women whose lives seem to be falling apart? Nothing is going right! We read of men who beat up their wives, or girlfriend; of women who abort their babies; of young girls getting pregnant; of a young teenage boy drinking one more beer before getting behind the wheel of a car. What are the results of such uncontrolled behavior? Emotional and physical scars that can last a lifetime.
When these things occur, people will come up with many different excuses as to why it happened: "She made me mad" - "It's not a fetus. It's only a blob of tissue" - "He said he loved me" - "I had to look cool in front of all my friends" - or the Flip Wilson excuse, "The devil made me do it!" We seem to hear every excuse under the sun. The Menendez brothers say they were in fear of their lives as they snuck up from behind, and pumped dozens of shotgun blast into their mother and father as they were watching tv. We have become a society that is out of control because we lack self-control.
Self-control means "to have power over oneself" and thus to be able to hold oneself in. Those without self-control are powerless, overwhelmed by the passions that tug at and control them. Self-control is not something that we can give ourselves. It's not something that comes from within, but rather something that comes from above. The only way that you and I can ever have self-control is by first allowing God to have full control of our lives. That can only come as we invite Christ into our lives as our personal Savior and Lord.
The Bible says when we receive Christ, that we are filled with the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Paul writes in Galatians 5:23, "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." Self-control is that quality that gives victory over fleshly desires. It is being able to restrain your lust, passions, appetites, and temper. The opposite of self-control is self-indulgence, the inability to keep one's passions under control or to resist temptation. Self-indulgence is nothing but self-love, whereas self-control is love for others, especially love for God. When the Pharisee's asked Christ, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" Jesus responded, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 22:36-39). Love for God and for others is to be our motive for self-control. As G. Campbell Morgan said, "Self-control is the victory of love, and the victory of love is the issue of the work of the Spirit."
In Genesis 39 we read the story of Joseph who was constantly being approached by Potiphar's wife that she might have sex with him. She constantly said to him, "Come and lie with me." At one time Joseph said to her, "How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" Another time he literally dropped his garment and ran from her. You see, Joseph loved his God more than he loved himself. He cared more about His God than he did about his own fleshly appetite. That attitude will always keep us from giving into temptation. The Bible says, "Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil" (Ephesians 6:10-11). In other words, we are to hide ourselves in all of God's weaponry; we're to clothe ourselves with His strength as one would a garment. Then we will be able to exercise self-control and say no to ungodliness - "The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age" (Titus 2:11-12 NIV).
Jesus demonstrated self-control as He was being tempted by the devil in the wilderness. He had not had anything to eat or drink for 40 days, and the enemy came knocking at His door in order to make Him give in to His fleshly desires. Every time the enemy came knocking, Jesus used the greatest weapon one can ever use against him - the Word of God. Jesus would not, and did not give in to the enemy because He loved His Father more than Himself. We can only exercise self-control by walking in the light of God's love. Paul tells the Christian in 1 Thessalonians 5:5-6, "You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled."
Let me finish by sharing the words of James, "God resist the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up" (James 4:6-10). The only way that we will ever come to master ourselves, is by yielding ourselves to the Master. The only way we will ever have self-control is by allowing God to have full control of our lives.
God bless you,
Pastor Steve
SHIELD OF FAITH
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