One who lacks self-control is driven by desire. Such a one is like a ship with the rudder broken off, driven by the wind in whatever direction it blows – today out to sea, tomorrow onto the beach, later onto a shallow, rocky reef that will totally destroy the ship. I know people who are like that. You probably do, too. They’re out of control. Self-control installs a rudder.

These words are out of my memory from an album of children’s songs that Kathi and I had when our kids were small. The album was produced by Agapeland Music and it was called The Music Machine. It was my children’s first and most lasting exposure to teaching on the fruit of the Spirit and obviously, their dad learned a few things from it, since I’ve never succeeded in getting that song out of my head!

For a final time this morning we will consider Paul’s teaching on the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23. Please follow along, as I read it once again:

This series has been called "You Can Do It!" Obviously, perhaps, this one I’m calling, "You Can Control Yourself." We’ll begin, as we have in the earlier sermons, by defining what we’re talking about.

"Self control is just controlin’ myself," says the song and the author of that music was right on target. Yet as you have probably discovered, knowing what it is and understanding how to do it can be very different things.

Let’s see if we can get a better assessment of what Paul was talking about when he listed "self control" as one of the items on his list of the fruit of the Spirit.

The King James Version uses the word "temperance" – which can be misunderstood in today’s world. In our day "temperance" is often related to only one kind of self control - that is restraint from use of alcoholic beverages. The word that Paul used in our text has a much wider application than just alcohol.

I’ve always been fascinated with the way words are put together and how languages are related. Take our word "democrat," for instance. Aside from the political party with that name, the word itself is actually two words brought together. "Demo" means "people" and "crat" means rule or power. Whatever a person might be in the modern political party with that name, the word itself simply means "people rule" or "rule by the people."

The word "aristocrat" is similar. The second half of the word, "crat." means rule or power and the first part, "aristo," means "nobility" or "elite." Aristocrat means "rule by nobility or by elite."

"Plutocrat" is similar. "Pluto" means wealthy and "crat means "rule" so plutocrat means "rule by the wealthy.

"What in the world does all this have to do with self-control?" you ask.

The Greek word Paul used in our text for "self-control" is ENGKRATEIA. Do you see the word "krat" in it? It means "rule" or "power" in Greek just as it does in English. The prefix ENG has to do with self. So ENGKRATEIA means literally, "rule or power over self." Thus we have "self-control."

Thayer defines ENGKRATIA as, "The virtue of one who masters his desires and passions, especially his sensual appetites."

The related Greek word KRATOS has to do with gripping or holding. We say, "get a grip on yourself" and what we mean is, "control yourself."

The meaning of ENGKRATIA is even clearer when we contrast it with its opposite, AKRATIA. "A" means "without" and KRATIA again means grip or control or power. AKRATIA means literally, "without power over self." Such a person is "out of control" or "without control."

When Paul said that "the fruit of the Spirit is self control," he was speaking of the ability to control or govern oneself and keep ones passions, emotions, and desires under control.

One who lacks self-control is driven by desire. Such a one is like a ship with the rudder broken off, driven by the wind in whatever direction it blows – today out to sea, tomorrow onto the beach, later onto a shallow, rocky reef that will totally destroy the ship. I know people who are like that. You probably do, too. They’re out of control. Self-control installs a rudder. Self control directs the effect of the winds of passion in a productive and not destructive direction. Sometimes self control is like an anchor, refusing to give in against the forces that would carry it away and destroy it.

Self control is like a dam across a giant river. The river running freely is sometimes peaceful but during periods of flood it goes on the rampage and destroys everything in its path. The dam, much like self-control, holds it back – restrains it – controls it. With the dam in place, what used to be destructive is now useful for recreation, irrigation, power generation, and drinking water. Its destructive force is harnessed and its beneficial force is released.

A life without self control ultimately becomes useless because, like the river, you can never trust it. The Christian life with self control brings a person to his or her full potential for God.

The fruit of the Spirit is self control. Where there was chaos in the life before, in time, due to the influence of the Holy Spirit and cooperation on the part of the Christian, there begins to be control which leads to peace and great benefit.

The issue of self-control is an important one in Scripture.

Virtually every area of our lives that can be influenced by feeling, emotion, or desire needs self control.

Hunger is necessary for our survival. When it gets grossly out of control it becomes gluttony, which is physically destructive.

Sexual desire is necessary for the continual propagation of the human race. When it is not controlled and directed into proper channels however, it becomes unbridled lust which can go in any number of destructive directions.

A sense of need motivates us to get out of bed in the morning to earn our living and build financial security. Without self control however, it becomes greed – the desire to accumulate more and more for self – well beyond what is needed. When greed is in control of someone’s life, all kinds of hurtful things happen to them and those who depend upon them.

Anger is necessary to stir us up to rid society of injustice, to stand up against wrong in ourselves and the world around. Out of control it becomes destructive rage and innocent people are hurt.

The need for rest, relaxation, and restorative recreation that is in each one of us helps us keep our minds and bodies from becoming overly exhausted and inefficient. (I like to say to workaholics occasionally, "Even God took a day off!") Yet without self control this genuinely good thing can become laziness that can lead us and those who depend upon us into poverty, which, in turn, spawns all kinds of miserable outcome. Laziness also makes us unfruitful for God.

The daily concern and need to deal with today’s problems is a good thing for individuals and society. Out of control however, it becomes sinful worry that can wrap us up in knots and leave us exhausted mentally and physically about things over which we have no control.

Fear is a necessary emotion to motivate us toward self-preservation in the face of danger. Without self control though, normal fear becomes panic and paralyzing terror that can stop us dead in our tracks.

The need to ponder and contemplate our problems and difficulties is an ability that can help us with planning and right actions. Out of control however, too much focus on self becomes self-pity, with depression not far behind.

I believe I could go on until I named every God given emotion we have. Self control harnesses and directs each of them for our good and the good of those around us. Lack of self control allows them to run rampant and roughshod, overwhelming us to the point of misery and destruction.

As Proverbs 25:28 says, "Like a city that is broken into and without walls is a man who has no control over his spirit."

God made us with the ability to feel emotion. He provided the proper motivation in our physical, mental, and spiritual makeup for everything that is necessary for our lives. These emotions and desires are not wrong in themselves. It is much like a well-equipped too box. There is a tool for every need. Yet we must learn to use these tools. A sharp and powerful chain saw is a wonderful tool. If you’ve ever cut wood to heat your house you know what a benefit it is. But that same chain saw, used carelessly, not controlled, becomes a deadly weapon. Our desires and emotions, used carefully, like a good tool, make life effective and efficient. But like a good set of power tools, we must learn to control them. It seems rather goofy, don’t you think, to take classes to learn to control and use today’s modern power tools but then not see the need to learn to control our spirits?

I hope you can see that this thing called self control is far ranging in its application. Without it a person is going to fail in many aspects of life.

Self control is a prized virtue in the Bible. Proverbs 16:32 says, "He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city." That’s a powerful statement referring to a powerful attribute.

Perhaps that is why Paul, when he was incarcerated at Caesarea, spent time on the subject of self control when he stood before the unbelieving Governor Felix as described in Acts 24:24-25:

Paul’s discussion with Felix about faith in Jesus Christ included instruction about self control. And Felix was certainly a man with a big need for this character quality. History tells us that Felix indulged in all kinds of illicit desires and passions. As Paul spoke to the Governor, some of the proof of his lack of self control was sitting right there beside him there on the throne - his third wife (at that time) Drusilla. "I see, I want, I take." That was the way Felix had lived his life up to this time. He was a man controlled by his impulses. He lacked self control and Paul’s message was right on target in pointing it out. (That is the job of every preacher, by the way – to bring the truth of the Word of God to bear on human error and weakness.) There are countless people like Felix today – people desperately in need of self control. They don’t need another entertaining "seeker service." They don’t need a message that makes them feel good in their sin. They need the word of God and His teaching about things like self control!

As I have pointed out all the way through this series, the qualities Paul lists here (and others like them – notice the "things like these" at the end of the sentence) are the fruit of the Spirit. They develop in the life of every true Christian, in part because of the presence of the Holy Spirit and in part because we cooperate with Him. Again as I have consistently pointed out, these qualities will never be ours without conscious, deliberate, diligent effort. So what can we do to develop self control? I suggest the following. If you have additional ideas based on Scriptures, please share them with me after the message.

I would say this first that if we wish to develop self control we must:

I know of some folks who, it would seem, don’t even have the word "no" in their vocabularies. I recall talking to a woman one time about her multiple affairs. I mentioned self control. Her response was to tell me that having multiple sex partners was no different than eating when you get hungry and drinking when you get thirsty or sneezing when your nose itches. That is out of control!

In Titus 2:11-12 Paul instructs us this way:

When you "deny ungodliness" you say no to it. You refuse it. You don’t give in to its demands. God expects us to do that!

Jesus said in Matthew 16:24: "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me."

The part of "himself" that Jesus was telling his followers to deny was that part of self that so gets so easily out of control. Again comparing self control to the rudder and anchor on a ship, there are times when we are driven along by the winds of desire that we must throw out the anchor. There are other times when we must steer the rudder and hold it so that we are resisting the winds of desire for the wrong things.

I remember hearing a person who was always taking on more responsibility than she could adequately handle say after failing to complete another of her many commitments, "I need to learn to say no." In the area of self control, we need to learn that, too. Sometimes in the name of being "fun loving" and "free" and "spontaneous," we condition ourselves, for whatever reason, to say "yes" without thinking things over first. After all, we wouldn’t want to be known as a prude! Perhaps that’s why Paul told Timothy, a young man whose words and actions would influence many to "…be sober in all things" in 2 Timothy 4:5

"But saying ‘no’ to my desires sounds so boring," I can hear someone say. Yes, and spending eternity banished from the presence of God in Hell sounds terrifying. I guess sometimes we have to choose.

Actually, there is a whole, wonderful life of freedom out there that awaits the person who controls self, carefully navigating away from destructive things and toward rewarding things. Said another way, driving recklessly might seem like an exciting, "free spirited" thing to do. But laying broken up in a hospital bed because you didn’t control your urge to be stupid about the way you drive is not freedom in anyone’s book.

If you haven’t exercised for a long time, suddenly starting to do so will be difficult. Muscles will be sore. The nice soft bed will feel better than it has in months when it is time to get up and pursue the second day of your exercise program. Yet if you are going to accomplish your goal you are going to have to say "no" to that extra hour of sleep to get it done. If you stick with it though, saying "no" to laziness will become easier.

Self control isn’t something you suddenly master. It comes from practice – the practice of saying "no" and meaning it when it is much easier to say "yes." Like any other thing we practice, though it is hard at first, it becomes easier in time if we are faithful in applying ourselves.

The most effective place to learn self control is in the home as we are growing up. Teaching our children to say "no" to things that are evil gives them the greatest chance to have this character quality in later life. I hear experts say from time to time that the best time to learn a second language is when you are at home, growing up. I assert that the same is true in learning self-control. The formative years are the best years to learn it. A child who has grown up "out of control" is a prime candidate for big problems in adulthood. More than once I have warned teenagers who are on a path of rejecting authority, that if they do not learn to control themselves, soon society will be forced control them. That is what prison is for.

Learning to control ourselves is difficult – especially if we have grown up in an environment where it was never required. Yet it is necessary, lest we reach the point where we’re so out of control we cannot be helped. Listed to the description of one who has gone beyond being helped in Proverbs 19:19 where it is applied to anger:

There are people who, when you help them, turn right back into the wrong behavior from which you just rescued them. If you have ever tried to help such a person, you know how difficult it is.

People can become so out of control that they are like animals according to the apostle Peter – totally driven by their base instincts. Referring to those who would lead God’s people astray by false teaching, Peter laid the blame squarely at the feet of two strong driving forces – unbridled sensuality (sex drive) and exploitive greed. Listen to his warning in 2 Peter 2:2-3: And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

He went on to compare such people to "unreasoning animals" in verses 12 and 13 of the same passage: "But these, like unreasoning animals ["brute beasts," KJV, NIV] born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, reviling where they have no knowledge, will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed…"

Paul warned in 2 Timothy 3:6 of those who would "enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses…." Clearly this depicts people who have little or no self control – people who are "led on" by their "impulses."

In a day when a person can obtain nearly anything his or her desires dictate via a cable connection and a remote control, there is a huge need to emphasize self control among God’s people. Learn to say no to such things.

The loose and uncontrolled behavior of others will affect us if we choose as our closest associates those who have no self-control.

Proverbs 22:24-25 warns of this very thing in the context of uncontrolled anger:

Most often we become like those we choose as life’s companions. Watch your associations.

Paul wrote of the need for self control in the area of sexuality in 1 Corinthians 7. In that passage he said in verse 9: "But if they do not have self-control, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn."

Marriage, in most cases, is God’s means for redirecting sexual desire. No, marriage will not solve all problems in this area. Self-control is still needed, as we know that many people don’t keep themselves even within the bounds of their marriages. We as Christians should never forget what God’s word says in Hebrews 13:4: "Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge."

The person whose greed makes him want to take things that don’t belong to him needs to channel that energy into meaningful employment so that he or she can take care of their own needs legitimately and even have something left over to share with others. Paul wrote in Eph 4:28: "Let him who steals steal no longer; but rather let him labor, performing with his own hands what is good, in order that he may have something to share with him who has need."

Putting these desires that are so easily directed wrongly back into their proper place is a part of what makes a person able to control or govern himself. Learn to redirect strong desires.

Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 4:7, "…discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness…."

The word he used for discipline was a word used by athletes to describe their practice. You won’t become a person who can govern your own spirit in a day or a week. It takes time and repeated practice.

The writer of Hebrews said in Hebrews 5:14: "But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil."

Self control, like building muscles or toning our bodies into shape, does not come without discipline or practice.

These are some solid ways to learn to govern your passions.

I’ve heard that during his time as president of the United States, Lyndon B. Johnson was somewhat overweight. One day his wife Ladybird challenged him with the following words: "You can’t run the country if you can’t run yourself." Reportedly, the President lost 23 pounds.

I say to you and to me today, "You can’t successfully run your life if you don’t have self-control."

"Self control" as the song goes, "Is the very best way to go."

Dave Redick is Minister of the Hwy 20 Church of Christ in Sweet Home, Oregon and Editor of The Preacher's Study. He may be reached at pstudysupport@comcast.net.

Copyright © 1996-2008 by The Preacher's Study. Permission is granted to subscribers to use this document in total or in sermon preparation in the context of the local congregation only. Publishing it in a book, on the Internet, or anyplace beyond the local congregation is prohibited.

All Scripture quotations and references are from the New American Standard Version unless otherwise stated.

[Archive]    [Home]   [Comments]   [Search]