MISSION: Self-Control

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God

Some things just come naturally and require little effort; things like breathing, blinking, sleeping, navel lint. OK, you can strike the last remark! Others require a lot more effort; things like standing, walking, hitting a baseball.

Then, there are some things that stretch us or go beyond our abilities; things like leaping a tall building in a single bound, understanding the opposite sex, or the subject matter of today’s eDevotion, Self-Control.

A Christ follower must work at it, self-control, that is. But no matter how hard we try, do you find, as I do, that it seems impossible? Sure, you can control yourself from time to time. Every once in a while, you can wrestle your temper under control and bite your tongue and not give in to your passions by using a little willpower. But you can’t be self-controlled all the time. Nobody can! That’s why God made a provision for it. It’s one of the characteristics of His presence in us when we surrender our lives to Him. It’s called a “Fruit of the Spirit.’

That’s good news, isn’t it? Self-control is possible! You can be self-controlled when you work with the Holy Spirit, yielding to Him in every circumstance. You do your part, and the Holy Spirit will empower you—strengthen you to be fruitful, self-controlled.

But the fruit of the Spirit is...self-control. Galatians 5:22-23