THE STRAWBERRY OF SELF-CONTROL
Review: The ORANGE OF FAITHFULNESS - "The Christ-like quality of dependability: stability in our relationship with God, reliability in our relationship with others."
The MANGO OF MEEKNESS - "The Christ-like quality of servanthood: humility in our relationship with God and mildness in our relationship with others."
The STRAWBERRY OF SELF-CONTROL -
(The UPWARD Fruit)
KJV - "temperance"
I’ve chosen the strawberry to represent self-control, because it is one fruit that I find very difficult to control myself in eating. If I bring home a pint, or even a quart, of strawberries; it is virtually impossible for me to eat a couple a day - usually that quart will be gone by the next morning! I’m sure that all of us have areas of our lives in which it is very hard to "control ourselves." About 11 months out of the year, good strawberries are hard to find, and very expensive! Self-control, the final Fruit of the Spirit, is one of the hardest to come by and will cost us the most to cultivate. But it’s worth it - because it pleases the heart of God and glorifies Him!
So, what is self-control? How is it expressed? And how can we develop greater self-control?
I. WHAT IS SELF-CONTROL?
The closest Hebrew word is TUSHIYYA,
which is translated, "discretion."
Ex. Prov. 3:21-23 "My son, let them not depart from your eyes-- Keep sound wisdom and discretion; So they will be life to your soul And grace to your neck. Then you will walk safely in your way, And your foot will not stumble."
The Greek word is EGKRATES, which means "self-restrained, disciplined, as an athlete in training."
And that is the very example Paul uses in
1 Cor. 9:24-27 "Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is self-controled in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified."
Notice several truths that Paul brings out about a SELF-CONTROLED LIFE:
. A self-controlled life:
1. Has positive goals
2. Involves discipline
3. Includes every part of a person: body, mind,
emotions and will
4. Requires exercise
5. Means total submission to the coach and his
training rules
By these five principles, we can check our own "self-control level:"
-1. Do we have spiritual goals and
godly priorities, and are we planning to achieve these goals and objectives one step at a time?
-2. Do we discipline ourselves to do the
things we know God wants us to do and not to do the things God has forbidden?
-3. Do we seek to control every part of
our lives? Our bodies? Our minds and imaginations? Our emotions? Our wills?
-4. Do we keep up with our daily spiritual exercises - reading God’s words, praying, witnessing, praising and worshipping God, fellowshipping with other believers, etc.?
-5. Do we daily submit to the control of Christ and His Spirit - following the rules He has laid out for us in His rule book, the Bible?
Def: SELF-CONTROL is "Living a well-disciplined life - under the controlling influence of God the Spirit."
II. HOW IS SELF-CONTROL EXPRESSED?
A. Control of our bodies:
Moderation is the key - avoiding extremes,living a
well-balanced physical life. This would include: eating, drinking,exercise, work, etc.
The Bible warns throughout about
over-eating, over-drinking, over-exercising, over-working, over-doing any good thing! For instance:
1 Cor. 10:31 "Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."
(Personal commitment - bodily exercise does profit a little!)
B. Control of Our Tongues:
James 3:7, 8 "Every kind of beast has been tamed by man, but the tongue can no man control, it is an uncontrolled evil."
There are four main "sins of speech"
1. LYING
Ephesians 4:25
"Therefore, putting away lying, ’Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,’ for we are members of one another."
2. FOUL LANGUAGE
Ephesians 4:29
"Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers"
3. INSULTING OR ABUSIVE LANGUAGE
Proverbs 16:32
He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, And he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city."
4. SLANDER (gossip, character assassination, etc.)
Prov. 10:18
"Whoever hides hatred has lying lips, And whoever spreads slander is a fool."
The discipline of the tongue can be accomplished by following three Biblical principles:
1. THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK
Psalm 141:3
"Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips."
2. SPEAK ONLY THE TRUTH
Psalm 15:1&2
"LORD, who shall dwell in Your holy hill? He who walks uprightly, And works righteousness, And speaks the truth in his heart;"
3. SPEAK THE TRUTH, ONLY IN LOVE
Ephesians 4:15
"but, speaking the truth in love, [you] may grow up in all things into Him who is the head--Christ--"
C. Control of our Sexuality
This is very difficult in our sex-driven society!)
How?
-1. Follow God’s standards
-2. Accept sex as a "gift of God" in marriage only
-3. Understand that control must begin in our thoughts and imaginations
2 Cor. 10:5 "casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ."
-4. Sex is best controlled by "love" - for "true love can wait," and true love always seeks the good of the other before its own.
1 Cor. 7:2-4 "Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does."
Jeremy Taylor wrote this simple prayer: "Let my body be a servant of my spirit, and both body and spirit be servants of Jesus!"
There are actually only six places in the NT where the word, temperance or self-control is used. Let’s take time to look at each:
-1. Acts 24:25
"Now as he [Paul] reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and answered, ’Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you.’"
Paul witnessed to Felix about three areas of his life that he didn’t want to hear about: righteousness, self-control and judgment to come.
-2. 1 Corinthians 9:25
"And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown." We need to give our all to be disciplined- in every area of our lives.
-3. Titus 1:8
[An Elder must be] "hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled." Spiritual leaders must be self-controlled, disciplined individuals.
-4. Titus 2:2
"that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience." Older men are to be examples to the younger men of "self-controlled disciplined lives."
-5. 2 Peter 1:5-8
"But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Self-control is an integral part of the balanced Christian life.
-6. Galatians 5:22&23 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control. Against such there is no law."
"Self -Control" is the final fruit of the Spirit which enables us to bear all the others. It takes self-disciplined, Spirit-controlled living in order to be loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful and meek!
III. HOW CAN WE DEVELOP GREATER SELF-CONTROL?
A. We can set spiritual goals and
priorities and plan to achieve those goals one objective at a time. Pick a fruit and ask God to show you how to practice it each day until it becomes part of your life.
B. We can be faithful in our daily
"spiritual exercises." (Did you make a commitment to faithfully read the Bible and pray 15 minutes a day?
C. We can yield the control of our
body, mind, emotions and will to God each day!
Rom. 12:1, 2 "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."
D. We can pray for grace not to yield
to the sinful desires of our body or tongue.
Romans 6:13 "And do not present your body parts as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God."
E. We can allow the Holy Spirit to
take control of our whole being every day by FAITH!
Eph. 5:18 "And do not be drunk with wine, in wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit,"
This is the KEY CONCEPT - Self-Control really isn’t self control; rather, it is the control of one’s self by the Holy Spirit!
Let’s not kid ourselves: Godliness is going to take discipline, it is going to take hard work, it is going to take self-denial, it is going to take spiritual exercise - but ultimately, self-control can only be accomplished by total submission of our lives to the Coach, Jesus Christ and His Holy Trainer - the Spirit!
As we celebrate the Lord’s Table this morning, make this your "prayer of preparation:" "Lord Jesus, I submit my life to You as my Coach. I will follow Your Rule Book diligently. Give me the enabling power of the Trainer, the Holy Spirit, so that I can run the race and finish the course to the glory of the Father. Thank You for dying that I might live. Help me to live a disciplined life until I receive the prize."
You may each take a strawberry as you leave today - but only take ONE!
If you feel like more, CONTROL YOURSELF! It’s a Fruit of the Spirit!
~Pastor Jim Westervelt
gracefellowship3@earthlink.net
~CHURCH WEBSITE (new and still in progress):
http://www.ourchurch.com/member/g/graceworship/
