Titus 2:11-12
11For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,
In Galatians 5:22-23 it says, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” These are the virtues that grow in the life of someone that is indwelt with the Holy Spirit. So “self-control” here, is one characteristic of a true Christian. So, do we as Christians, have any responsibility to strive to model these characteristics? The answer is yes! So, as with many other aspects of living the Christian life, we can expect the fruit of the Spirit to grow in our lives, but at the same time, we are to strive hard to “work out our salvation.” We must understand that it is the Holy Spirit dwelling inside us, that enables us to accomplish any and all resistance to temptation and sin.
Benefits of practicing the discipline of self-control
1. It is key to developing intimacy and closeness with God.
When we are exercising self-control in our resistance to various temptations, we prove to our self and to God that we desire to obey His commands. When we are practicing obedience, we give evidence to God of our love for him and his precepts.
2. It builds and reinforces our faith.
When we do battle with temptation, instead of always giving in, it gives evidence of our new nature to love and please our Father in heaven. This has the wonderful effect of reinforcing our faith and assurance.
The Main areas of trouble with regard to self-control for the young man.
If I had to choose the top three things that are the most difficult with regard to self-control, they would be the tongue, thought-life, and sexual sin.
1. The Tongue. This is one of the hardest things to control. It is the closest organ to our brain so the “distance” between a though and a word can be very short indeed. Our tongue is quick to lie, slander, gossip, cuss, complain, and belittle. Just to name a few.
2. Thought Life. All temptations begin as a thought. Jesus taught us that we can sin even if we entertain thoughts of sin. Thought sins are things like poor attitudes, ingratitude, anger, depression, bitterness, fear, unforgiveness and others. We are taught in the bible to resist the temptation to dwell in this type of thought and to replace it with Godly thoughts.
3. Sexual Sin. This is always going to be a struggle. We MUST always control the temptation to engage in sexual sin. This is obviously things like pornography, lust, premarital sex, adultery and other sexual perversions. God has designed sex to be a wonderful bonding experience between a man and a woman that are in a lifetime committed relationship. Any sexual behavior outside that, is forbidden by God in the scriptures.
Keys to success
Only the truly regenerated child of God, indwelt by God’s spirit has any real chance at success in the area of self-control. Our own carnal will, can only help so much and the only motive to resist sin is to not get caught. That will always lead to failure.
Romans 13:14
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
1 Peter 2:11
Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.
What is you’ve failed? Is it too late?
Romans 6:14-15
For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!
These verses sum up the important concepts nicely. The Christian is forgiven of all his sin past and future. There is no amount of sin that can undo the work that God did when he died for your sins, so that you could have forgiveness and eternal life. We are under His grace and It was by His grace that we were saved in the first place.
However, we must never take advantage of the grace of God to sin, expecting Him to forgive us. He owes us nothing but judgment. We do well to remember the meaning of grace. The parable of the prodigal son gives us insight to God character when it comes to a child of His that falls into temporary sin. The point of the parable is that God is compassionate and forgiving to the repentant.
Remember, self-control before the eyes of man can be done by anyone. Self-control in the eyes of God is what I’ve been talking about. True self-control that pleases God, is that which is exercised when no one is looking. Of course, God can see all and that is how we prove our faith to Him and reinforce our faith to our self.
11For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,
In Galatians 5:22-23 it says, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” These are the virtues that grow in the life of someone that is indwelt with the Holy Spirit. So “self-control” here, is one characteristic of a true Christian. So, do we as Christians, have any responsibility to strive to model these characteristics? The answer is yes! So, as with many other aspects of living the Christian life, we can expect the fruit of the Spirit to grow in our lives, but at the same time, we are to strive hard to “work out our salvation.” We must understand that it is the Holy Spirit dwelling inside us, that enables us to accomplish any and all resistance to temptation and sin.
Benefits of practicing the discipline of self-control
1. It is key to developing intimacy and closeness with God.
When we are exercising self-control in our resistance to various temptations, we prove to our self and to God that we desire to obey His commands. When we are practicing obedience, we give evidence to God of our love for him and his precepts.
2. It builds and reinforces our faith.
When we do battle with temptation, instead of always giving in, it gives evidence of our new nature to love and please our Father in heaven. This has the wonderful effect of reinforcing our faith and assurance.
The Main areas of trouble with regard to self-control for the young man.
If I had to choose the top three things that are the most difficult with regard to self-control, they would be the tongue, thought-life, and sexual sin.
1. The Tongue. This is one of the hardest things to control. It is the closest organ to our brain so the “distance” between a though and a word can be very short indeed. Our tongue is quick to lie, slander, gossip, cuss, complain, and belittle. Just to name a few.
2. Thought Life. All temptations begin as a thought. Jesus taught us that we can sin even if we entertain thoughts of sin. Thought sins are things like poor attitudes, ingratitude, anger, depression, bitterness, fear, unforgiveness and others. We are taught in the bible to resist the temptation to dwell in this type of thought and to replace it with Godly thoughts.
3. Sexual Sin. This is always going to be a struggle. We MUST always control the temptation to engage in sexual sin. This is obviously things like pornography, lust, premarital sex, adultery and other sexual perversions. God has designed sex to be a wonderful bonding experience between a man and a woman that are in a lifetime committed relationship. Any sexual behavior outside that, is forbidden by God in the scriptures.
Keys to success
Only the truly regenerated child of God, indwelt by God’s spirit has any real chance at success in the area of self-control. Our own carnal will, can only help so much and the only motive to resist sin is to not get caught. That will always lead to failure.
Romans 13:14
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
1 Peter 2:11
Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.
What is you’ve failed? Is it too late?
Romans 6:14-15
For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!
These verses sum up the important concepts nicely. The Christian is forgiven of all his sin past and future. There is no amount of sin that can undo the work that God did when he died for your sins, so that you could have forgiveness and eternal life. We are under His grace and It was by His grace that we were saved in the first place.
However, we must never take advantage of the grace of God to sin, expecting Him to forgive us. He owes us nothing but judgment. We do well to remember the meaning of grace. The parable of the prodigal son gives us insight to God character when it comes to a child of His that falls into temporary sin. The point of the parable is that God is compassionate and forgiving to the repentant.
Remember, self-control before the eyes of man can be done by anyone. Self-control in the eyes of God is what I’ve been talking about. True self-control that pleases God, is that which is exercised when no one is looking. Of course, God can see all and that is how we prove our faith to Him and reinforce our faith to our self.
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