Wrap Up

"A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls." Proverbs 25:28

As we wrapped up our ladies' Bible study last night, we discussed the "respectable sin" of lack of self-control. As the proverb above indicates, a person without self-control will be vulnerable to various forms of temptations and sins. We have our boundaries that keep us from the obvious sins, but we usually don't give much conscious attention to controlling our desires, cravings, impulses, emotions, and passions. Being self-controlled means exercising moderation in legitimate activities or desires, and complete restraint in activities that are sinful. Even unbelievers are able to exercise self-control in some area of their life in order to achieve a goal. When our family recently visited Churchill Downs, the guide explained the diet of committed jockeys. Lettuce day-in and day-out is not my idea of nourishment! One jockey, thinking his weight was an immediate problem, cut one peanut in quarters, and then spent one hour eating it! As Christians, though, we are called to exercise biblical self-control in all areas of our lives. "This self-control is dependent on the influence and enablement of the Holy Spirit. It requires continual exposure of our mind to the words of God and continual prayer for the Holy Spirit to give us both the desire and power to exercise self-control. We might say that self-control is not control by oneself through one's own willpower but rather control of oneself through the power of the Holy Spirit." We continually battle the tendency to indulge our desires, so as to not be controlled by them. Some examples: food, drink, our temper, spending, computer/internet usage, television, hobbies, exercise, and especially our speech and thought life. As a fruit of the Spirit, self-control is an important aspect of our conformity to the image of Christ.

(Quotation and thoughts taken from chapter 13 of Respectable Sins: Confronting the Sins We Tolerate by Jerry Bridges)