Chances are most of us already want to live a lfe of Self-Control, but we find ourselves saying, I can’t do it. My passions, my sexuality, my tongue, my body hungers they rule me. So, how can I have self control when I feel powerless?
Three things for you to apply first to your mind, then to your body and then to your spirit.
1. You need a change of mind. You must accept the idea that your mind was meant to rule your body. Some of us need to eject the false idea that we are merely a bunch of atoms and that our passions are who we are as mere animals… so giving in to them is natural and good.
Jesus once looked at his disciples and noticed their lack of self control, and he said, "the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." And by that He meant there’s a part of us that wants to tell our bodies to do the right thing, the godly thing. But, then our bodies don't want to cooperate. So, rather than give in to this reality, or grow numb, or use that as an excuse and say, it’s too hard, you’ve got to stay sharp mentally.
Jesus says, your mind was meant to rule your body. St. Francis of Assisi had a saying, he called his body, "Brother ass." Which is to say, my body is my pack animal, given to me as a gift, meant to do work for me. But something is seriously wrong when my body calls the shots.
Go back to Sampson from earlier this week, God meant for him to use his body as an instrument of his righteous judgement. His body was good, it was a gift. It was meant to carry a load. Instead, his body became in charge, telling him where to go and what to do… and his strength was wasted.
Friend, maybe you have to have a change of mind. To say, "No I will run the show. God made my mind to be in control of my passions. And if I’ve surrendered the leadership role, it’s time to take it back and stop making excuses for why brother ass is in control."
Three things for you to apply first to your mind, then to your body and then to your spirit.
1. You need a change of mind. You must accept the idea that your mind was meant to rule your body. Some of us need to eject the false idea that we are merely a bunch of atoms and that our passions are who we are as mere animals… so giving in to them is natural and good.
Jesus once looked at his disciples and noticed their lack of self control, and he said, "the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." And by that He meant there’s a part of us that wants to tell our bodies to do the right thing, the godly thing. But, then our bodies don't want to cooperate. So, rather than give in to this reality, or grow numb, or use that as an excuse and say, it’s too hard, you’ve got to stay sharp mentally.
Jesus says, your mind was meant to rule your body. St. Francis of Assisi had a saying, he called his body, "Brother ass." Which is to say, my body is my pack animal, given to me as a gift, meant to do work for me. But something is seriously wrong when my body calls the shots.
Go back to Sampson from earlier this week, God meant for him to use his body as an instrument of his righteous judgement. His body was good, it was a gift. It was meant to carry a load. Instead, his body became in charge, telling him where to go and what to do… and his strength was wasted.
Friend, maybe you have to have a change of mind. To say, "No I will run the show. God made my mind to be in control of my passions. And if I’ve surrendered the leadership role, it’s time to take it back and stop making excuses for why brother ass is in control."
2. Your body needs to be trained by new habits. If re-trained with God’s help, our bodies become great pack animals capable of amazing amounts of good works. They can get up earlier, their sexual passions can be restrained and channeled properly, their enjoyment of food can be managed so as to not self destruct, and become less useful and more of a burden.
However, your body will rebel mightily to be subjected to new habits because our flesh is part of a fallen world. It exerts a powerful southward pull on our lives. If we understand how powerful that is, we won’t let our bodies into certain settings, we won’t let it look at certain things.
What people tend to do once they start to seek self control they say, "Oh, my mind is strong, my mind is calling the shots, so I can put my body at risk." No! Go back to Joseph.
What did he do when a beautiful woman who was not his wife made sexual advances towards him? Did he stand there and say, "my mind is strong. Maybe I’ll just see if we can be friends." No! He ran. He got his body out of a situation where its weakness would overwhelm his mind.
We have to do the same. Once your body is in a compromising situation, it’s too late. You’ve already lost. Once you’re:
- surrounded by those friends,
- watching those websites, or movies,
- at that restaurant,
- once you’re talking about that person,
- once you’re in the mall, you’ve already lost.
You’ve got to get your body out. New habits. So you can’t go here or there, you can’t do some things others do with impunity. Does that make you weak? That makes you strong! You’re the person of great character.
However, your body will rebel mightily to be subjected to new habits because our flesh is part of a fallen world. It exerts a powerful southward pull on our lives. If we understand how powerful that is, we won’t let our bodies into certain settings, we won’t let it look at certain things.
What people tend to do once they start to seek self control they say, "Oh, my mind is strong, my mind is calling the shots, so I can put my body at risk." No! Go back to Joseph.
What did he do when a beautiful woman who was not his wife made sexual advances towards him? Did he stand there and say, "my mind is strong. Maybe I’ll just see if we can be friends." No! He ran. He got his body out of a situation where its weakness would overwhelm his mind.
We have to do the same. Once your body is in a compromising situation, it’s too late. You’ve already lost. Once you’re:
- surrounded by those friends,
- watching those websites, or movies,
- at that restaurant,
- once you’re talking about that person,
- once you’re in the mall, you’ve already lost.
You’ve got to get your body out. New habits. So you can’t go here or there, you can’t do some things others do with impunity. Does that make you weak? That makes you strong! You’re the person of great character.
3. Finally, your spirit. And this is the most important application because no matter how much your mind changes and your body changes its habits, if our spirits are still cut off from God, we’ll be fighting a losing battle. We’ll want to do the right thing, but be helpless to carry it out.
BUT, we can gain a NEW power by getting a renewed spirit within. If you accept Christ as your leader and forgiver, the Bible says, God comes by his Spirit to forgive you and personally live in you… and this same Spirit brings with Him the power to display new fruit of Godly character.
Self Control is one of those things. If you become a follower of Christ today, it will no longer be a matter of HOW DO I GET SELF CONTROL. You’ll ALREADY have it, by the Holy Spirit who lives in you. The question will be, are you taking hold of the self-control God has already given you?
Taking hold of it means you reach out by faith and say, I am under self control, because God lives in me. I have the resources already here to say, NO or say YES. I have this power, not by willpower but by God himself. I just need to grab hold of it. When my body rises up and demands to be in charge, I pray and ask God to strengthen my mind to lead, and to subdue my body daily.
Paul the Apostle said. No sloppy living for me… I’m staying alert and in top condition, I subdue my body, it’s not going to overtake me. I won’t be caught napping.
Friends, I maintain that most of our problems with self control, after we become Christians have nothing to do with a lack of power. Christ followers HAVE power totally available to them. It’s that they do not access the power they have because there’s something we don’t want to give up.
ACTION STEP: Let’s not blame God friends. He’s given you a solution for you mind, your body and your spirit. The question now is all in your camp… will you take him up and become a man or woman of character?
BUT, we can gain a NEW power by getting a renewed spirit within. If you accept Christ as your leader and forgiver, the Bible says, God comes by his Spirit to forgive you and personally live in you… and this same Spirit brings with Him the power to display new fruit of Godly character.
Self Control is one of those things. If you become a follower of Christ today, it will no longer be a matter of HOW DO I GET SELF CONTROL. You’ll ALREADY have it, by the Holy Spirit who lives in you. The question will be, are you taking hold of the self-control God has already given you?
Taking hold of it means you reach out by faith and say, I am under self control, because God lives in me. I have the resources already here to say, NO or say YES. I have this power, not by willpower but by God himself. I just need to grab hold of it. When my body rises up and demands to be in charge, I pray and ask God to strengthen my mind to lead, and to subdue my body daily.
Paul the Apostle said. No sloppy living for me… I’m staying alert and in top condition, I subdue my body, it’s not going to overtake me. I won’t be caught napping.
Friends, I maintain that most of our problems with self control, after we become Christians have nothing to do with a lack of power. Christ followers HAVE power totally available to them. It’s that they do not access the power they have because there’s something we don’t want to give up.
ACTION STEP: Let’s not blame God friends. He’s given you a solution for you mind, your body and your spirit. The question now is all in your camp… will you take him up and become a man or woman of character?
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