Control Thyself

I don’t know about you, but being a Christian in this time, day, and age is not an easy task.  We are surrounded with so many obstacles, circumstances working against us, and we have the world saying harmful things to discourage us.  Will you believe that despite the negative surroundings we encounter, that is not the biggest challenge we go through every day?  The hardest challenge comes from within; how we respond to what happens to us, which points to controlling yourself.  Some may think controlling yourself is just not saying anything about how you feel.  Not really.  Controlling yourself is all about how you respond to life’s curve balls that are thrown at you when you least expect it.

So why is it hard to control yourself?  Let’s rewind a little to get to the core of why it is a challenge.  You are a human being, and you are made from three parts: Body, Soul, and Spirit.  I like to say you Are a Spirit, you Have a Soul, and you LIVE in your earth-suit (body).  When you become a Christian, the Holy Spirit comes to lives inside of you.

1 Corinthians 6:19 (NLT) “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God?”

It is the Holy Spirit living inside of you that makes you holy and righteous. I’m not saying that you will never make any mistakes as you live your life.  What I’m saying is that the gift of righteousness and holiness comes from God.  It is not from works (human efforts) or anything that you did.  By believing and accepting Jesus Christ into your life is what makes you a child of God.

Now when Jesus returns to take the Christians up to Heaven (those who have passed away and those who are still alive), we will get a total Body makeover.  The writer Paul calls it a glorified body. There are a lot of details in the book of 1 Corinthians 15:1—58.  The key is in verse 51.  We (our bodies) will be changed.  Our bodies are temporary and we’re getting upgrades!

Now, we’ve briefly covered the Body and the Spirit.  But what about the Soul?  Ah!  The Soul is the part of you that is your character.  It is your mind, will, and emotions.  Your spirit is the substance of what you are, but your soul (mind, will, and emotions) is the character of your spirit.  It distinguishes you from another person.  Grocery stores sell water that comes in different flavors.  You can get flavors from strawberry, lime, raspberry, etc.  But the core essence of the drink is water!  Your Soul is the flavor of your spirit.  (Get it?) The reason why you are not exactly like another person is because you think differently than the other person.  The soul (mind) is also the area of free-will.  You can choose what you want to do; whether good or bad.  God gave everyone a free will; the right to choose.  God did not want robots to do everything He says. Even the Angels in Heaven have free-will.  God places the responsibility of changing how we think on us.  Consider this, when you become a Christian, the only part that changes immediately is your spiritual relationship with God.   You get a roommate (called the Holy Spirit) inside.  Although your body upgrades come later, and you are stuck with your mind and emotions until Jesus returns, we forget that our thoughts and emotions do not immediately change when you accept Jesus Christ as your savior.  You will have emotional peace and you know that something has changed, but if you are left alone and you don’t start reading God’s word, hanging around other believers by going to church, praying, and asking God for His direction, you will easily slide back to your old ways before you were a Christian.  We, through God’s help and strength, must put off our own nature, our old way of thinking, and put on the new things of Jesus Christ.  The Bible is very clear about what we need to do with our minds:

Romans 12:2 (NLT) “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

Did you see that?  These instructions are for us.  God places this responsibility on us.  We are responsible for changing how we think.  Another translation of Romans 12:2 states, “Do not be conformed to this world…” This means don’t allow the pressures of the world to influence you to the point that it shapes your thought patterns.  You previously sounded like the other person; you repeat the same deceptions that they are speaking.  You watch television, movies, social media stuff thinking that this is the way world society is.  Technically, you ARE seeing the path where the world is going.  What I’m saying is that you don’t have to follow that path.

The Bible talks about things to put off, put to death, and to put on.  In other words: (1) Put off – Lay aside or cast away, (2) Put to death – Deprive of its power, (3) Put on – Clothed yourself, wrap your mind around.

Colossians 3:5-8

Put to Death

• Fornication
• Uncleanness
• Passions (Evil Affections)
• Evil Desires
• Covetousness – Greed over material possessions
  • This is also idolatry – placing material things above God

Put off all these

• Anger
• Wrath
• Malice
• Blasphemy
• Filthy Language
• Lies

Colossians 3:12-17

Put On

• Tenderness
• Kindness
• Humility
• Meekness
• Long suffering
• Bearing with one anther
• Forgiving one Another

Above all of these, put on these

• Love – The bond of perfection.
• Peace of God – Which rules and governs your spirit.
• Thankfulness
• Word of Christ – speaking God’s Word which gives you wisdom.
• Teaching other Believers
• Admonishing (warning or reprimanding firmly) other believers – In Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs. (The motive is through love.)

I know some of you are thinking, “See there, Christianity is nothing but a bunch of Rules of Do’s and Don’ts.  The list is so long, how can I remember them all? I bet if I don’t do all of these, God is going to judge me, right?”  First, you are looking at this as if you are doing this alone.  We have the Holy Spirit to help us in ALL areas of our lives, including changing our minds.  God wants to know if you have the “desire” to change.  If yes, then He promises to help you and give you the strength to change!

This blog is about Self Control or Controlling Yourself.  The bible is filled with plenty of examples of individuals who didn’t control themselves:

• Adam and Eve – They couldn’t control themselves from eating the forbidden fruit.
• Abraham and Sarah – They were not patient to wait on God to bless them with a child (Isaac). So, they produced their own plan and gave birth to Ishmael.
• Moses – Lost his temper with the children of Israel’s constant complaining and struck the rock when God told him to speak to the rock. The result cost him the opportunity to go into the promised land.
• King David – Couldn’t control himself and committed a horrible sin of lusting after Bathsheba, getting her pregnant, and manipulated his men to have Bathsheba’s husband to get killed in battle.
• Peter – Peter lost his temper and chopped off the ear of a Roman Soldier thinking he was protecting Jesus during Jesus’ arrest.

There are plenty of other stories in the Bible of people not having control of themselves.  But there is one thing that is common, God still used them.  Everyone of them realized their mistakes, turned their hearts to God, and God used them.  The Christian walk of self-control is not a perfect walk, but it is a commanded walk.  Self-Control is one of the fruits of the Spirit.  (Galatians 5:22,23).  Self-Control is the ability to control your thoughts, emotions, and actions.  Jesus also said that you will know, recognize, and detect true Christians by their fruit. (Matthew 7:16).  You know a tree is an apple tree because you see apples.  You know a tree is a peach tree because you see peaches.  You know a Christian is a true Christian when you see the fruits (attributes) from what should be growing on the inside. (Galatians 5:22, 23).  Guess what? All fruit trees go through the process of growing.  Although there is apple tree that is growing, you may not see the fruit until later.  It takes time.  Growing in the Lord takes time, but the speed of the growth is up to you.  The longer you hang on to the things of the world, the more you are choking out the fruit/blessings of the Lord.

I will end with this; nothing is impossible with God.  Whatever God asks you to do, He always provides the provisions needed to accomplish it.  God wants us to exercise self-control, and He gives you the ability to overcome.  Jesus never lied to us saying that you are going to have a smooth, carefree life.  In fact, He said that YOU WILL have obstacles, problems, tribulations, and will be attacked by the enemy.  But He provides hope.  He said, “I have overcome the world.”  Notice that He didn’t say YOU overcame the world.  Jesus is the one who gives you the ability to overcome all your obstacles.  God wants you to control yourself by tapping into His source, His ability, and His power.  Doing this and putting on the things of the Spirit enables you to have self-control.

Acts 17:18 (NLT) “For in him we live and move and exist.”

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