CATCH THE SPIRIT OF SELF-CONTROL

Galatians 5:22-23; 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

People who demonstrate the attitude of self-control are winners in life. In 1960, this fact has been established clinically by Stanford University thorough a test they called the “Candy Test.” They put a large group of four-year-olds in a room and had a teacher tell them, “I am leaving for ten minutes to run an errand. Here are two pieces of candy that you can have while I am gone, but if wait until I return, you can have ten pieces of candy.” They wanted to know who had the self-control to resist temptation and hold out for the full reward.

After 12 years, they revisited the same children and found out that those who grabbed the two pieces of candy have ran into more troubles as adolescents and scored much less on SAT tests compared to the others.

Indeed, self-control is a key factor for a successful life. And this is the very reason why God wants to see this attitude among His own children. Of course, it’s obvious that since we are studying the fruit of the Holy Spirit, we need to clarify that God’s plan is that real self-control is not an attitude produce by self, but produce by allowing the Holy Spirit to have complete control over us. It depends on our response to the work of the Holy Spirit.

Now, in order for us to fully understand this attitude, we need to focus on three major responsibilities:

I     DISCIPLINE YOUR LIFE:

The text in Galatians 5:23 uses the Greek word which literally means “Self-discipline” or “Self- restraint.” This word pictures an athlete in training.

Can you imagine an athlete who doesn’t have any discipline? Do you think he will be a real winner without it? In 1 Corinthians 9: 24-27, the apostle Paul compares the Christian life to an athletic competition like running (vv. 24-26a) or boxing (vv. 26b-27). Both competitions require strict self-discipline in order to be real winners.

We all know how Olympic Athletes train for many years, submitting themselves for some strict discipline in order to have a chance to win a brief moment of glory. But the race we are running as Christians is far more important than any earthly athletic event. So self-control is not optional for Christians.

• “Run in such a way as to get the prize.” – Winning is the goal of every athlete. With this goal comes self-discipline. Most Christians fail to exercise self-control because they have not set the goal to win.
  
  
• Skills are overrated – Skills alone will not make a person a winner. Consider Samson of the Old Testament who was blessed with so much strength. Initially, he came out as a real hero destroying the enemies of Israel by the thousands single-handedly. However, his lack of self-discipline led to his own destruction.

“Self-control is the hardest victory. I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies.” (Aristotle)

We need to seek God’s help in instilling discipline in our lives in order for us to avoid painful failures in life. Blessed is the individual who exhibits this virtue.

II    DETERMINE YOUR WEAKNESSES:

Dr. James Merritt in his book, How to Be a Winner and Influence Anybody, identified certain areas in our culture today that need self-control:

• Financial – Americans are the most indebted people on earth, with a household debt averaging $71, 500.
  
  
• Physical – Every day in America, we eat:
  • 70 million acres of pizza
  • 53 million hot dogs
  • 167 million eggs
  • 3 million gallons of ice cream
  • 2, 739, 726 Dunkin Donuts
  
  Resulting to an average of two out of three premature deaths.
  
  
• Emotional- Rage is a major problem. Our highways have become battle grounds and our schoolyards shooting fields.
  
  
• Moral – We have record rates of suicides, teenage pregnancies, youth crimes, and underage sex.

Anyone who wants to develop self-discipline must determine the specific areas in his or her life where there is a problem. We need to admit our problem or problems.

The Bible reminds us that we do things because we like to do them. You know, we do things, even when we know they are bad, because we like to do them. We have to face our weaknesses and seek God’s help to set the necessary control. Stop saying, “That’s just the way I am.” Start saying:

Our own will power is not enough. We need God’s unlimited power. In what areas of your life do you have a hard time saying no? God can do something about those areas, if you allow Him.

III   DEVISE YOUR ACCOUNTABILITY:

There are two aspects of accountability we need to recognize.

Personal Accountability – We need to hold ourselves accountable by keeping ourselves from places or situations that will weaken self-control. As the saying goes:

“If you don’t want to be stung, stay away from bees”

The Bible warns us to be careful in giving the devil an occasion to lead us to sin. As believers, we need to plan in advance to avoid situations that we know are going to cause us to sin. Don’t keep an ice cream in the refrigerator if you are in a diet. Don’t acquire credit cards if you are impulsive spenders.

Peer Accountability – We also need to be accountable to someone. We need a friend who will hold us accountable, who will pray for us or encourage us in the areas where we need to develop more self-control.

There are sufficient basis for this kind of accountability in the Scriptures. We can benefit so much from faithful friends whom we can depend on to follow through on our commitments. In the secular world, this is known as the “Buddy system.”

Do you have a friend you can call when you are under pressure? God wants us to have someone who can encourage us in the Lord.

Once again, if we desire to practice self-control, we need to remember three responsibilities:

• Discipline our lives
• Determine our weaknesses
• Devise our accountability

As we conclude our series on the fruit of the Spirit, we have to humbly realize that there is no way we can produce these attitudes on our own. We need to stay very close with God. We need to allow His power to slowly bring the necessary change internally, so we can demonstrate it outwardly. Always take to heart John 15:5:

"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.