Someone has said, “Freedom comes from self-control.” In other words, we learn to say “no” to some things so we can say “yes” to others. If you think about it,  that’s what self control is really all about. It’s being able to say “no” to some things, so that we might say “yes” to those things that are better, and that means better for us, and the people with whom we share our lives. We might think of it as a way of intentionally living for God. Directing our energies toward what’s good and pleasing to Him! 

 You know, it’s been my conviction throughout this series that exhibiting the Fruit of the Spirit means being just like Jesus. It means letting his character show through in ours. Perhaps nowhere does the character of our Savior show through more than in the Fruit of self control. Think of the restraint our Lord showed in being tempted over the 40 days in the wilderness. Or, the unwavering obedience to the Father that Jesus displayed on the cross. Maybe the greatest miracle Jesus did was not saving himself and satisfying his own desires, even though he had all the power of the world at his fingertips. 

 Instead, Jesus exercised the Fruit of self control, even while in physical, emotional, and spiritual agony. Self control means saying “no” to our own impulses and desires, in order to say “yes” to what God wants and desires for us! That’s what Jesus did. That’s what he wants for us as his followers. And that is what we are called to do as his people. And it comes not by trying harder. The Fruit of self control is not about gritty self-determination, like running a 4.5 second 40 yard dash, or working 80 hours a week at our jobs. It’s about yielding ourselves more and more to Jesus Christ so that his character begins to show through in us, in thoughts, words, and actions. That’s what self control is really all about. It’s about yielding ourselves to God! Join us this Sunday and yield yourself to the Lord as we talk about the last of the Fruit of the Spirit — the Fruit of Self Control. 

“True self control is not about bringing ourselves under our own control but under the power of Christ!”  

Ptr. Precie Canlas