Self Control

A person who doesn’t have a self-control is like an untamed Beast, who is a trouble not only for itself but also for his counterparts and peers. A person without any control on himself will be a nuisance to his family and society. He won’t have the cognizance as to how to behave, what to speak, and what should be our thought process. A sound mind guided by the Holy Spirit is like a fresh waterfall, which is beneficial not only for land but for people surrounding that water body. A self-controlled man will excel in Godly things, he would not be timid nor would he succumb to any pressure exerted on us by Satan.

2 Timothy 1:7
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
Satan brings us all the best worldly things to deceive and beguile us. But a person who is guided by the Holy Spirit will know that his self-control will win his case in front of God and the Holy Spirit will guide him to defend that person against any attack from evil. If anything that keeps our faith intact after prayers and reading scriptures; it is our self-control. Once we have faith in Jesus and read the Bible, it is our self-control that determines how our walk in and with the Lord would be. Wisdom from Jesus is directly connected with our self-discipline. The more we showcase self-discipline in our life, more would be Lord’s wisdom bestowed upon us.

Proverbs 16:32
He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.
A self-controlled soul is like a battalion on Warfield in the front guarding our soul against the attacks of Satan. If we let our spirit go astray then all our hard work in faith and praying would go in vain. Self Control is the single most influential “make or break” decision in life. Self-denial for Lord is what will ameliorate our life to new heights. Sometimes, we live in a delusion that we are having faith in Jesus and that is the only prerequisite for having an eternal life in him and a life pleasing to his eyes. Think again! What the Bible teaches us is to be in complete self-denial mode and always sticking to self-control principles taught to us by God. Two verses from the Bible will clear the self-control point unambiguously.

Matthew 16:24
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
And

1 Peter 2:11
Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;
Jesus clearly said that if we want to follow him, if we want to be termed as his disciples then we have to take up our own cross and follow him. Here, Jesus wants to draw a comparison between one’s self-control and cross. Cross has a physical burden if we carry it on shoulders, similarly, our self-control has a lot of burden on our spirit. We would be denying ourselves with the pleasures of the world, we would abstain ourselves from the fleshly enjoyments; which isn’t an easy decision to make and requires a lot of determination and faith. Also, the sinful desires in our body are in constant war with our soul, and the winner is always being determined by how much restrained are we with our desires. We are being engulfed with vanity, ego, sexual desires, fornication, alcoholic desires, jealousy, covetousness all being Satan’s age old weapons to defeat us and destroy us. These are the weapons he uses to create a gap between God and our soul. However, with faith in Jesus, prayers, scripture reading and Self-control we can easily overcome these obstacles and be victorious. Self-control can also be seen as an act of opposing evil and letting evil know that we are in the team of Jesus and better not try to deceive us. Whenever we are very happy or very sad; that’s is the time when Satan can really hit us with all his force as that’s is our most vulnerable time. However, that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be happy or sad, it’ all natural to be any state of mind and feeling but we should restrain ourselves from flowing with the emotions and what others tells us do at that particular moment. Instead, we should train our mind, body and soul to have self-control and not letting anything beguile us. Sometimes, we might think that we can’t let go a particular thing because of it’s monetary or social value, however anything that could possible come in between Christ and our soul must be abandoned and should be abstained from.

Philippians 3:7
But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
If Adam and Eve, had self control they wouldn’t had been deceived by the serpent. What is interesting to see is how even after knowing and reading their story, we still end up being deceived by the satan. One of the paramount factor in achieving self control is the praying without ceasing and intercession with the Holy Spirit. The crucifixion of the Christ also symbolises the crucifixion of our fleshly desires which instigates us to sin against the God.

Galatians 5:24
And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
The best way to practice the art of self control is by indulging ourselves in the scriptures. The more we read the more we get accustomed to the word of God. With a better comprehension of the Bible we are able to achieve the desired level of self control necessary to ameliorate our lives in God’s eyes. Self control is an art which comes through lot of determination and lot of prayers. One of the major aspects of practicing the art is by humbling ourselves in front of the Lord. Accepting, our sins and mistakes, confessing them to Jesus and then asking for it’s forgiveness. Till the time we don’t understand our sins and mistakes we will keep on repeating it, hence defying the very logic of self control.

Titus 2:11-12
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
Through Jesus we have attained the knowledge and the route to salvation. It requires us to deny all kinds of worldly pleasures and ungodly ideas. To forgo these desires our heart should practise the art of self effacing and self control. Without restraining ourselves from worldly desire, we simply won’t be able to have the intercession with Jesus in a true manner. Therefore, to have an eternal life and a pleasing life in the eyes of God, one must practice the art of self control.