Fruit of the Spirit ~ Self-control

For the past 2 months we have been looking at the fruit of God’s spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23. The fruit of the spirit, or the qualities of character that emerge in our lives as we stay connected to God through Jesus Christ are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. While we are called by God to be intentional in living lives that reflect these Christ-like characteristics, the reality is that we do not develop this fruit on our own. The only way this fruit will mature and ripen in our lives is if we intentionally stay connected on God and daily work to develop a strong relationship with Jesus Christ.

Today as we turn to the last of the fruit listed here, I want to be clear about two things. The first is that each of the fruits listed here builds upon the others. The foundation of a Christ-like character begins with love; God’s love at work in our lives. Nothing happens without the love of God, but once that love takes hold, we begin to experience joy and then our hearts and minds will be at peace. With God’s peace reigning in our lives comes the ability to be patient and kind with one another and as kindness grows, so does faithfulness, goodness and gentleness. So we need to be clear, we will never experience self-control until the rest of these qualities have taken hold in our lives. One of the problems we face is that too often we want this self-control, we want disciplined lives, but we don’t want to go through the process and the work needed to get there. There is no magic pill and there is no simple solution to self-control, it only comes as the fruit of God’s spirit grows in our lives and that only comes as we place more and more of our faith and trust in Jesus Christ.

That we need more of this discipline and control in our lives, however, is clear, the signs of our out of control lives are all around us. We have a hard time controlling our spending and so we are a nation of people with mounting personal debt. We have a hard time controlling our eating habits so we are nation that struggles with the epidemic of obesity and we are passing this out of control behavior on to our children. Fully 1/3 of all adults and children are considered to be obese. We also have a hard time controlling our lust so sexual addictions are becoming more and more common and infidelity in marriage continues to rise, even inside the church Everywhere we turn we see signs that we are living out of control lives, and while it has taken us decades to get here, we always seem to want the quick fix that will immediately help us regain discipline and control – but there aren’t an easy answers. Self control comes at the end of the list of spiritual fruit because it only comes as we grow in our spiritual depth and maturity. The only way we will experience more discipline in our lives is to first allow the spirit of God to bring us love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and gentleness because it will be the combination of this fruit which will help us become more disciplined and directed in our lives. So there is no easy answer to self-control, but it can and it will develop in our lives as we seek more of God’s spirit and power.

Now the second thing to understand about self control is that we really are not talking about SELF control at all. The Greek word for self control comes from two different words, in and strength, so self control really means inner strength. Now if the inner strength that we rely upon and trust in to help us become more disciplined comes from our self, we will be destined for frustration and failure. We know this is true because we have all been there. We try to exercise self control in so many different ways, diet, exercise, budgets, abstinence, and while we might do well for a while, eventually, we fail. Lasting discipline and control only comes from an inner strength which finds its source in God. It is only God who gives us the strength to make the right decisions and do the right things at all the right times. It is only when we are walking in the spirit of God, or drawing upon the strength of God, that we will find ultimate victory and a lasting success in life, so we really aren’t talking about self control at all, what we are talking about is God control. Self control is really a life that is fully surrendered to and controlled by the spirit of God.

So if we want to live a disciplined life, we start by asking God to take control of our lives and give us the strength and power we need to make the right decisions and do the right things, and if we ask God to take control, God will. When we surrender ourselves to God, God will not only receive us, but God will fill us with his power and strength. In fact, I believe God is just waiting for us to come to him and ask so that He can give us His strength. Last week we looked at the story of the sinful and broken woman who meets Jesus at the well. She comes during the heat of the day because her life is out of control, she has failed miserably in trying to live life on her own and one of the things Jesus says to her is, if you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you give me a drink, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water. Jesus was waiting at the well to give her the gift of God’s spirit. God is waiting here today to give us the gift of his strength so that we can draw upon it in times of weakness, temptation and need. God is right here waiting, and he is ready to give us the gift of inner strength if we will just ask.

So let’s just ask. Let’s just stop here and ask God for his strength and power. If you have tried to bring discipline and order to your life and have failed, or if you are in need of an inner strength that will not let you down when the temptations get strong, then join me in asking God to bring us his power and strength.

Prayer

Now asking God to take control is just the beginning, we now have to get serious and live each and every day keeping God in control and honestly, that’s a battle. If we turn back to Galatians 5 but go back a few verses we see how Paul talks about this battle for control. 5:16-17

When Paul says to live by the Spirit what he is saying is that we need to live each day with the spirit of God in control, but this is a battle because our desire to be in control is pretty, strong and many times our desire – or our flesh – is opposed to God. So the battle for control is fierce and just asking God to take control once is not enough, in many ways, asking God to take control and to be in control is an ongoing way of life and it is a way of life that we need to get serious about. Every moment of every day we need to draw upon the inner strength God gives us and use this power to help us make the right decisions and to do the right things in life.

Now as we have seen with all the fruits of God’s spirit, staying connected to God is the key, but there are some things God calls us to do to help this fruit develop in our lives, and the same is true for this gift of inner strength. According to Paul, living a God controlled life is similar to an athlete training for the big game, so we learn some keys to keeping God in control from 1 Corinthians 9:24-27.

Keeping God in control and drawing upon the inner strength God gives us means keeping our eyes on the prize (9:24). The prize we are talking about here is not a gold medal and it’s not fame and fortune, the prize of living a God controlled life is a life of power and discipline. When God is control we have the power of God dwelling within us so that we will be able to do more than we ever thought or imagined. Jesus himself said that with the spirit of God dwelling within us we will be able to do even greater things than he did and in Romans 8:11… In other words, if the same spirit and same power that helped Jesus overcome the grave is working in us, we will have the power available to us to do all things. Through Christ we can do all things. The prize of a life with God in control is that we can have a power and strength available to us when we face all kinds of problems in the world around us, who wouldn’t want the power of God working within them?

But it’s not just the power of God that motivates us, the prize of a God controlled life is also the full and rich fruit of God’s spirit. When God is in control we will experience more love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and inner strength. With all the craziness we see around us today, with all the uncertainty, disillusionment, brokenness and pain we see and experience on a daily basis, who wouldn’t want a life filled with this fruit? The prize we need to keep focused on is a life filled with God’s power and life filled with the fruit of God’s spirit, and this powerful, spirit filled life is better than anything we can experience in this world on our own.

Not only do we need to keep our eyes on the prize but we also need to train ourselves, or discipline ourselves, to constantly draw upon the strength that God gives us (9:25). Just as an athlete won’t stay in top competitive shape unless they keep training, neither will we keep God in control of our lives unless we learn how to draw upon God’s strength. Once we ask God to be in control, He will be there, God will be there with his strength, but we have to learn how to draw upon it. Turning to and using the inner strength of God will not come naturally to us, in fact, I think our default position is to trust in and rely upon ourselves, to turn to our strength and ability, so we need to train ourselves to turn to God and look for his strength and use his power. We can turn to God through worship or prayer to find his strength; we can turn to God’s word or God’s people to find his strength. While there are many different ways we can discipline ourselves to turn to God, the important thing is that we learn to do it. The important thing is turn to God at all times so that when we find ourselves in need, we will turn to God first.

To keep God in control we also need to keep focused (9:26). Runners don’t run aimlessly and boxers don’t beat at the air, in other words, they don’t get distracted – they stay focused. It is easy today, to get distracted from a God controlled life. There are so many voices out there telling us that we can do it on our own if we will just try harder. From infomercials to self help books we are bombarded with new ideas and new programs to help us maintain self discipline and control, but the simple truth is that on our own, we will only get so far. Trusting in our own strength will eventually lead us to frustration and failure. True strength and a lasting power that will help us overcome problems and experience the fullness of life will only be found when we keep God in control and stay connected to Him.

Not only are there many voices saying we can do it on our own, there are also a lot of voices, a growing number of voices that say we don’t need God at all. Recent studies have shown that the number of people who identify themselves as atheists is growing and they are getting bold in their message that people don’t need God to be good. In the days to come there will be a growing number of voices that will try to distract us and pull us away from God so we need to keep focused and always remember that we can not live a self controlled life for very long, without the inner strength that God gives us. We must keep God in control – we must stay connected to God.

And so we come back to where it all began – the key to a God disciplined life and the key to experiencing the fruit of God’s spirit is to stay connected to God through a relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus said, I am the vine you are the branch, apart from me you can do nothing. Outside of a relationship with Jesus Christ where we trust God to forgive us and the spirit of God to dwell within us, we will bear no fruit. So to experience love, joy peace, patience kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and God’s inner strength we must surrender ourselves fully to God and moment by moment, day by day ask God to be in control of our lives.