Episode 27: Fruit of the Spirit Ep. 8 - Are you in Control?
Today we are wrapping up our Fruit of the Spirit series discussing temperance or self control. We discuss what it means to be out of control and list some ways you may be out of control. It could be your emotions that are out of control or it could be an addiction you have to alcohol or drugs that’s controlling your life, or an addiction to pornography, you may even find yourself out of control with your finances.
Why does someone addicted to drugs and alcohol continually turn back to it even though they know they shouldn’t? Because the substance controls them, they no longer control the substance. They are enslaved to whatever they’re addicted to. Sexual sin, namely pornography is rampant in our society today, why? Because men and women are addicted to it and then they lose control of the ability to make rational decisions to abstain from it any longer. Dave Ramsey talks about controlling your money, not your money controlling you. Think about how that works…we spend and spend, live above our means/or just say we live at our means, we’re getting by but our job is unethical, they’ve started making you work on Sundays, you’re completely unhappy but because you have maxed yourself out, you can’t make a decision to leave the job because your finances are out of control. You are no longer in control of where and what you spend your money on because of who you owe for rash decisions you made. Have you ever thought about how our schedules are out of control and I’m preaching to myself here. We make plans on top of plans, we think our kids have to be in every sport, we don’t say no to anything and then our schedules dictate what we do and we can’t minister to people when a situation arises…a friend needs you, your kid needs some extra one on one time, you need rest, but you don’t get it, why? Because you are enslaved to your schedule, you’re no longer in control, it controls you. Does this resonate with you?
A loss of self-control can lead to harmful behaviors such as, substance abuse, overeating, gambling and even violence. It can also damage personal relationships and hinder career advancement.
We should be persistently pursuing our faith which leads to virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, kindness and love.
Who is going to listen to us if we claim to be a Christian but constantly lose our cool and can’t control our own bodies. A lack of self-control and self-discipline is like being a castaway as paul says in 1 Corinthians 9 because nobody will listen to you.
What’s the Purpose:
As we talk about what’s the purpose of self control, let’s look at 2 Timothy 3:1 “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good” Do you think we’re experiencing any of those things now? Absolutely and what is that a sign of? That we are in the last days but specifically let’s look at that word incontinent. It’s not a word that we use on a regular basis and in modern English, we use incontinence in association with someone who has lost control of their bladder, but specifically, incontinent is just someone who has lost control. Being out of control is associated with what the world will be like when we near the end times. So as we consider the purpose of self control, let’s remember that self-control should be associated with us as believers and we should be the ones who are set apart from the world but not just with self control but within all areas of the fruit of the spirit.
What’s the Challenge?
With this being our final lesson on the fruit of the spirit, my final challenge in this series is just to remind you to cultivate all of these fruit and just because temperance or self control is last, doesn’t mean it’s of less importance. As a matter of fact, it’s got to be evident in your life in order to walk in the spirit but it’s going to take time and effort and self-denial. Jesus said in Matthew 16: 24 “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” My challenge is to give up living for yourself and walk in the Spirit and after this series, we should all be able to see the evidence of that in our lives…are we living love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness and self control on display for the world to see?
