Day 38: Self-control

Isn't it hard to exercise self-control; to tell yourself that what you are doing is wrong and then stop doing it; to refrain from a certain activity because you know that it does not bring glory to God; to stop your tongue before you spread gossip or speak harsh words?

Satan and our sinful nature pressure us to sin and to do the things we ought not.


This text comes to mind:

"For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practise." (Romans 8:18,19)

And yet so often it is almost as though we give up trying to will to do the good because we know so often that all we do is evil. We can then give up trying to do good, we become satisfied with the level of life that we are at; we don't care about trying to attain that goal of perfection. Instead we let our sinful nature have permanent residence in half our life. You do this by allowing ourselves to watch movies with noticeable blasphemy and coarse language; movies which authorise premarital sex. You do this by indulging in too much alcohol at parties so come the next morning and you can't remember what you did last night. You do this by associating too much with friends in the world. All these things, and there's so many, many more things, let Satan have leeway in our lives.

And this is so wrong! We have to realise this; we can not let that happen.

We constantly have to examine our lives to see that which is lacking. We have to exercise restraint and self-control, know when it is best to speak, or leave things unsaid. We have to live our lives with eternal purpose! This means that we cannot live like those in the world. Their characteristics include violence, greedy for money, lack of self-control, quarrelsome, covetous just to mention a few. But we cannot act like this anymore. Our hearts have been changed, and so our lives must also change. We need to work towards that goal of perfection.

And God never promised that it would be easy, and neither did He promise that we would reach that goal in this life, however, He did promise strength to get us through, and His Holy Spirit to renew us each day a new so that we can fight against our sins, so that we can exercise self-control.

"Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me...one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3: 12-14)