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(Galatians 5:22–23) “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”
SERIES 8: BECOMING LIKE JESUS. 12. Living with self-control (Learning to master our desires rather than letting them master us).
Following Jesus means learning that not every desire needs to be satisfied, not every thought needs to be spoken, and not every impulse needs to be acted upon.
Self-control is learning to bring our desires, emotions, words and actions under the direction of the Holy Spirit rather than allowing them to control us.
We live in a world that constantly tells us to give in to what we want. If we are angry, we are encouraged to express it. If we want something, we are told we deserve it. If something feels good, we are encouraged to do more of it. But following Jesus means learning to ask ourselves a different question: Is this what God wants for me?
Self-control does not mean suppressing everything we feel or pretending that our desires do not exist. God created us with desires and emotions. The issue here is who is in control of them.
Anger can easily become cruelty. Desire can quickly become temptation. Appetite can unfortunately become excess. Ambition can become arrogant pride – even good things can become harmful when they are allowed to rule us!
The good news is that self-control is not something we have to manufacture by sheer willpower. Paul describes it as part of the fruit of the Spirit. As we walk with Jesus, His Spirit changes the way we respond. We begin to recognise the moment when an impulse is taking control, and we learn to pause, pray and choose differently.
Sometimes self-control means saying no when everything inside us wants to say yes. Sometimes it means remaining silent when we desperately want to have the last word. Sometimes it means walking away from something we know will lead us somewhere we should not go.
Following Jesus means learning that freedom is not the ability to do whatever we want. True freedom is no longer being controlled by whatever we want.
We may not always get it right. But each time we choose obedience over impulse, we are becoming more like Jesus.
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Let’s pray, “Heavenly Father Jesus told us that the flesh counts for nothing, help me to trust You enough to let go …” Amen!
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