Self Control & Righteousness

By Olga Hermans –

Self-control is critical for spiritual growth. As a three-part being, Spirit, soul and body, and a Christian your spirit “man” is the most important part of you; 1Thess.5:23 You are a spirit, you have a soul and you live in a body. If you do not build up your spirit, then your soul and body will dominate your life.

When you live according to your soul and body you tend to do what feels good at the moment or what looks easiest and most convenient. Often leading to hidden sin when the soul and body convince you that no one will ever know, or what harm will it cause if you just a little of whatever it is you want to do.

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Some people never learn to walk in self-control because they don’t take the time to build up their spirit man. They learn to shove aside the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to them and instead follow their emotions or their own desires and reasoning.

Sometimes they may even put a religious coat on it and say that they felt God lead them to do what they did or to justify decisions that go against the God’s Word, when in fact, if they examined what they did, they would know that it goes against the principles of the Word of God.

As Christians, we’re to take control of what we see, hear and read, and whom we allow to influence our lives. We are responsible for our emotions, impulses and desires. For example, circumstances may press your emotions to respond negatively, but through the fruit of self-control, you choose to respond differently.

You choose to walk in peace while others may want to argue. You choose to forgive and show mercy when others offend, disappoint, or fail you. You choose to keep the joy of the Lord when you feel unhappy. You choose not to speak when your emotions are pressing you to speak. All of these are examples of self-control in operation.

One way of applying self-control is by submitting to God’s Word. There are those who have learned that freedom is not doing whatever you feel at the moment. Freedom is in choosing to walk in love toward God and others. The love walk requires self-control. Gal.5:13

Jesus said in Luke 17:1 that offenses would come. He also said in John 16:33 to rejoice in the midst of tribulation. Walking in peace demands self-control! I remember somebody once saying, “I have no problem walking with God. It’s just all the other Christians I have problems with!” That sounds funny, but that’s really the way some people feel.

When we become a part of the family of God, we must learn to live together as a family. God can use other brothers and sisters in the Lord to develop fruit in our lives if we allow Him to. We may not always appreciate the part they may play in our spiritual growth, but it is one of the ways God works the rough edges off of us.

Here are a few guidelines for helping you to strengthen the fruit of self-control in your life:

1. Take time to daily read the Word of God. Psalm 119:9-11. Hide God’s Word in your heart, so you will not sin against Him and will be able to live in His Blessings.

2. Take time daily in prayer. Math.26:41. We need to “watch and pray” over our own lives. Watch for the attacks of the enemy in your life and then pray immediately.

3. Guard your heart with all diligence. Proverbs 4:23 We need to examine our attitudes and our thoughts on a regular basis and make adjustments as needed.

4. Be sensitive in your spirit to hear God. Hebr.3:7. When we hear from God we can choose to respond with humility and trust or harden our hearts and ignore Him.

5. Be righteousness conscious. Remember, having an attitude of righteousness in Jesus makes you want to stay right with Him. 2Cor.5:21

6. Be quick to repent if you sin, and reckon yourself dead to sin and alive unto God. Gal.2:20.

7. Cast down wrong thoughts. Phil.4:8. Do you ever think about what you are thinking about? If you are not careful, your thought life can lead you into problems. It is important to think before you act.

8. Keep humble before God. James 4:6. We have our own ideas about what we can accomplish, but often we think more highly of ourselves than we ought. We need humble attitudes, knowing that apart from God, we can do nothing.

9. Submit to God and to His Word, and resist the devil. We must remember that the devil is not going to just sit back and allow us to take new ground without putting up a fight, but James 4:7 says that he will flee if we submit to God and resist the enemy.

10. Set you affections upon the Lord. If you want to live the resurrection life that Jesus provides, then seek that new, powerful life by setting your mind and keeping it set on things above, not on things on the earth.

 

Olga Hermans is the visionary behind The Choice Driven Life. She likes to help people experience their God-given right to choose their Destiny. God has given everybody the gift of a FREE will; it is up to us to make the right choices to live the good life that has been preordained for us. She has graduated from VBI Tulsa together with her husband to found Destiny Bible school in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Website:  www.thechoicedrivenlife.com

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Self Control & Righteousness
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