Self Control Week 3

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  23  gentleness and self- control. Against such things there is no law.  24  Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  25  Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.  Galatians 5: 22-25

Self Control. We have come to the last Fruit of the Spirit on our long devotional series. Merriam Webster defines self control as: restraint exercised over one’s own impulses, emotions, or desires. Self control is another one of those words that just hearing it can bring immediate thoughts of defeat. We know we ought to have self -control in so many areas of our lives- eating, language, anger, vices, social media ... and I’m sure we could all add a few that we personally battle. But, actually having mastery and “control” in these areas is an ongoing battle.

I don’t know if you have put this all together yet, but each of the Fruit of the Spirit are impossible to accomplish on our own. We do not actually embody the inner strength to maintain any one of them for any length of time. Even the ones that sound easy like LOVE- eventually you will encounter people that are very hard or impossible to be loving toward. PEACE- spend one day with a cranky child (or adult!) and your peace and patience are out the window. So what is the point?

The point is found in Galatians 5:24-25, the verses following the list of the Fruit. You must crucify your flesh and allow the Holy Spirit to guide your actions. So be relieved. You do not need to strive to stay in control of your actions and emotions. You actually can’t stay in control in your own strength. Submit and release yourself to Jesus and His Spirit- that is where you will find your strength.

Our prayer is you find comfort in submitting your will to the Holy Spirit and see all of his Fruit be produced in your life!

Devo by Awaken Co-Founder, Kim Tolnar