Self-control’s one of the nine fruits of the Spirit. God’s character traits, which He shares with you when you get close to Him (check Galatians 5:22-23). The Greek word for ‘self-control’ comes from a root word meaning ‘to grip.’ Yes it means getting a grip on your desires, your spending, your anger, all of that. But it’s so much more than those things. It’s about getting a grip on God’s kingdom, narrowing down your life so that you choose the kingdom in place of everything else. The Bible says ‘purity of heart is to will one thing’. When you drop everything to get a grip on the kingdom and your part to play in it, you become a terrifying force to the kingdom of darkness. The enemy would rather you focus on a hundred different things, scattering your attention so that you never get round to God’s kingdom.
Because he knows what you’re capable of. God’s got plans for you that would scare you silly if you knew about them now (check Ephesians 3:20). But you won’t be mature enough to step into them if you believe that you have no control over your life. If you believe that you’ll always ‘just keep on giving in’ to that habitual sin. If you live distracted, giving your attention to things that aren’t sinful in themselves, but that keep your eyes fixed away from Jesus.
What now?
If you’ve spent your life trying to control sin, but you’ve never surrendered to Christ, give that up. Today, with your heart and with words, surrender to Jesus.
