Self Control Week 7

Not too long ago my mother asked me “how are you so disciplined?” To which I thought, to myself of course, that I’m not. I try to eat a cleaner diet, but find myself at Chick-fil-A at least weekly. I try to hit the gym four to five times a week, but my bed feels so comfortable. I try to put my phone down more often and be more present, but the next video was funnier than the last. The problem isn’t the action though, it’s much deeper. Just like an apple tree doesn’t have to think about producing apples, or a sunflower comes out of a sunflower seed, there are those things that are so natural to us.

Paul, in Galatians 5, uses the image of fruit very intentionally, and self-control being a fruit of the Spirit lets us know that discipline isn’t just a “I’ll try a bit harder tomorrow”. In verse 25 it says “if we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit”. If self-control is a fruit of the Spirit, when you’re walking in the Spirit self-control comes naturally. By the sheer nature of the Spirit, self-control must be produced. If you’re asking yourself “how do I get more self-control?” — stop. The question should be “how can I get more of the Spirit. An apple farmer doesn’t go to his buddy on the pumpkin patch to find apples, he gets more seed. For us to produce self-control we must be planted in the Spirit