If we’ve the faith to believe it, the moment we pray for salvation, we receive it. It doesn’t work that way with self-control. Yes, we should pray for it, but Peter writes, ‘Make every effort to add to your faith…self-control.’ It only becomes a reality when we ‘make every effort’ to practise it every day. Here are three areas in life where you’ll find your self-control is tested: 1) Your temper. Your circumstances and your background are no excuse for a short fuse and an explosive temper. The Bible says, ‘Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city’ (Proverbs 16:32 NIV). When you lose your temper, you lose respect and credibility with others. 2) Your time. Time is the stuff that life is made of, and wasted time really is wasted life. It takes time to build relationships, learn skills, perform meaningful actions, achieve goals, and fulfil plans. A mismanaged life is often the result of mismanaged time. 3) Your tongue. The Bible says, ‘Let your speech be always with grace’ (Colossians 4:6 KJV). Every day brings new opportunities to control your tongue; if you’re wise you’ll take them! And if you must speak, let this scriptural principle govern what you say: ‘Be gracious in your speech. The goal is to bring out the best in others in conversation, not put them down, not cut them out’ (v. 6 MSG). So today, ‘make every effort’ to control your temper, your time, and your tongue.
What now?
Think about those three areas: temper, time and tongue. Is there one in particular where you need to work on your self-control? Bring that area to God today.