“Fruit of the Spirit – Self Control”  

**INTRODUCTION

Hello and welcome to “Key to the Kingdom.” My name is Bret McCasland. The Apostle Paul lists nine qualities that make up the Fruit of the Spirit, and that list is found in Galatians chapter 5. The last one is self-control. I do not suppose anyone knows for sure why self-control is the last one, and yet it is as important as those listed before it. Maybe it is because the last one, self-control, is needed in order to put into practice all of these qualities. In fact, self-control is needed in most every situation in life. From what we eat to what we say to what we do or don't do, self-control comes into play. In fact, when we decide to follow Jesus Christ, self-control becomes very important. It might even include pursuing a different lifestyle. It might involve changing our thoughts, actions and behaviors. Practicing self-control is part of living a disciplined lifestyle that follows the example Jesus left; and that disciplined lifestyle is part of being His disciple. Today on “Key to the Kingdom,” we will look at some Bible passages that describe what self-control is to look like in the various stages of life. Some of these things might present a challenge. Some of the Bible's teaching might be hard to practice or to incorporate on a daily basis; and yet, when we do so the Holy Spirit living within us will help us. I encourage you to stay tuned to this station for the next few minutes as we see what the Bible tells us about the Fruit of the Spirit number nine, self-control. Let's now open up our Bibles and study together.

**LESSON

In previous lessons here on “Key to the Kingdom,” we have studied from Galatians chapter 5, and in that chapter the Apostle Paul listed nine different spiritual qualities, or characteristics, which are to be found in the lives of those who are filled up with God's Holy Spirit. And those lessons have hopefully challenged us to grow in those specific areas of our life. The passage helps us to know the importance of keeping in step with and living in tune with the Holy Spirit. Well, today I want us to study the last of those nine Fruit of the Spirit. It is called self-control, and we start by reading the passage that begins in chapter 5, verse 17. <And so I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.> Now, the behaviors Paul lists here in this passage suggest a life that is out of control. It is a life characterized by self-indulgence and pride, and it manifests itself in at least these 15 ways, which Paul identifies. In another passage, 1st Corinthians chapter 3, the Apostle Paul also reminds us to avoid such behaviors. Listen to what he wrote in verse 16 of that chapter. <Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.> The Christians there in Corinth knew that nothing unholy and nothing corrupt was to ever enter into God's holy temple there in Jerusalem. And in a similar fashion, nothing unholy or corrupt is to ever enter into a Spirit filled life of a Christian; and that includes the things that we just read there in Galatians chapter 5. In other words, we are to be in such control over what we think and say and do, that no desire of our fleshly nature will be evident. Well, all of that sounds good, but oftentimes it's more difficult to practice what we preach. And here's the problem. There is no possible way any of us can do what Paul has asked us to do by ourselves. If we are not depending upon God's Holy Spirit and His work within us, then we cannot control the desires of our flesh. We cannot say no to those fleshly desires. And so with that established, Paul identifies now what a life lived by the Holy Spirit is supposed to look like. And that's where he goes next in Galatians 5, with these words beginning in verse 22. <But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.> Well, there it is. Those are what we call the nine Fruit of the Spirit. Now, the first eight of these Fruit are qualities that are found in the Lord. We've talked about them before. But the last one in this list is that of self-control. The Lord does not need any self control. The Lord is God. God has always been in control. He is in control and He always will be in control. And so the question naturally comes, why then does Paul include self-control in this list? And here's, I believe, the reason: We are to allow the Holy Spirit to control us so that we can learn how to control ourselves. And sometimes our passions, sometimes the desires of the flesh are too difficult to control on our own. We might even take lightly some of the things Paul identified in the passage we read a moment ago, in verses 17 through 21, and therefore we need help. The Apostle Peter offers a similar list to Paul's list when he wrote these words in 2nd Peter chapter 1, beginning with verse 5. <For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.> Right there, in the middle of that list, Peter emphasizes self-control. There are things you need to add to self-control, and there are other things you need to add to your life as a result of self-control. And so, again, self-control is a quality that we are to add to our faith, along with many other good qualities and characteristics. And so we notice that both Peter and Paul knew that the only way we can keep the power of sin and the desires of the flesh under control is to be filled up with the Holy Spirit, which comes from the Lord. And when I think about the matter of self-control, two Old Testament examples come to mind, one good and one bad. Joseph was the 11th of Jacob's 12 sons. All of them were older, but the older brothers did not like Joseph, and naturally so. He received his father's favoritism and the older brothers were quite envious of that; even to the point one day they sold him into, well, I guess, slavery, if you will, almost. Some traders were passing along and they bartered and they traded Joseph, their brother, for some goods they might need. And that story is found there in Genesis chapter 39. Well, those traders then took Joseph and they sold him to Potiphar. He was the man in charge of Pharaoh's realm, there in Egypt. And with Potiphar, Joseph grew and he became very trustworthy. And he, in fact, was put in charge of all the things within Potiphar household. Well, one day, Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce Joseph into committing adultery with her. And Joseph saw what was going on, and he immediately left that home. He ran away, leaving his coat behind. Well, what happened is that Joseph was not willing to break the trust of his master. But more importantly, Joseph was unwilling to sin against his God. He was possessed with a great amount of self-control because he was aware of God's presence in his life. Well, here's another example; it is that of David, who was King of Israel. One day when the various kings of the surrounding nations were going off to do battle and war against one another, David stayed home. And while he was there, one morning, he got up, looked out the window, and he saw a woman taking a bath. Her name was Bathsheba. He inquired about her and had her come to him and he committed adultery with her. Well, in part, to cover up the sin he had just committed, he ordered a man by the name of Uriah, who was Bathsheba husband, to be put on the firing line in the wars that were going on. And sure enough, he was there and immediately lost his life. But David did something that was not good. He did not practice self-control and that story is told in 2nd Samuel, chapter 11. But even though David repented of his sin and he was eventually forgiven, by losing his self-control both he and his entire family suffered negatively. You know, one man practiced self-control, Joseph, and the other man, David, did not. With those two stories in mind, I want to go back now to Galatians chapter 5. There we realize, as Paul teaches us, the only way to have nothing to do with the desires of the flesh is to allow God’s Holy Spirit to fill us with self-control. If that is not the case, then we will be vulnerable to whatever Satan presents to us. And if we give in to it, then our relationship with the Lord is compromised. We may even lose control over other things, as well. You know, going back to verse 17 of that fifth chapter, Paul mentions many things that revolve around sexual immorality. And those might be some of the things that come to our mind when we think about the importance of practicing self-control. But what about exercising self-control over other things? For example, do we exercise self-control over our temper? What about over our appetite? Do we have control over the attitudes that we have about other people? What about controlling our lack of ambition or our misuse of our time? Perhaps a big one for many of us, do we practice self-control over our tongue, and the words we say to or about others? Oh, there are lots of things over which we are to exercise self-control. If we don’t, we allow Satan to gain the upper hand in our battle against the desires of the flesh. We might even think we can easily rise above such problems. And yet, Paul reminds us of how the lack of self-control affects every segment of God's family, from the wisest elder, even to the newest Christian. In another passage, in Titus chapter 1, Paul addresses that. Listen to what he wrote to his good friend Titus, who was working with a church on the island of Crete. He wrote these words beginning in chapter 1, verse 7. <Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless -not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.> Paul makes the point if an overseer or elder of the church does not exercise self-control, then he becomes a liability to the church. He does not faithfully keep the commission which has been entrusted to him. Well, Paul goes on in this same letter to address self-control among other people, also. Notice these words in chapter 2, beginning with verse 2. <Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.> Dropping on down in that 2nd chapter. <The older women are to urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the Word of God.> And then finally, he wrote: <In a similar way, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. In everything set them an example by doing what is good.> You know, four times in this passage we find the words self-controlled. It applies to the church overseers or elders, to older men, to younger women, and to younger men. And all such people simply represent how it is important to live self-controlled lives in every aspect of our lives. In other words, at various stages, we will be exposed to situations where our morals, our values, perhaps even our integrity will be called into question. And if we lack self-control, which can only come by the Holy Spirit, then we will be tempted to give in to the desires of the flesh. And so here is the point. No one is immune. It does not matter who we are, how long we have been a Christian, or how strong-willed we think we might be, if we choose not to live by the Fruit of self-control, we are in danger of losing the battle to our fleshly desires. Paul offers a summary to that in verse 24. He wrote, against such things there is no law; and that means there is no limit as to how this Fruit of the Spirit is to be displayed in a person's life. As a child of God who has received the Holy Spirit, we have every right and every opportunity to access any and all of these nine Fruit of the Spirit at any time, and they are to be ever increasing and always available in our lives. You know, with this image of the nine slices of the Fruit of the Spirit in our mind, Paul now draws a section of teaching to a close with these words in verse 24 and 25. <Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.> Paul wants us to say no to one thing and yes to another thing. We are to say no to the desires of the flesh, and we are to say yes to the Fruit of the Spirit. We have crucified one with its passions and desires, and we keep in step with the other, and that is God's Holy Spirit. And the choice is ours to make! I want us to think about it this way: The Lord does not demand any of us to accept His gift of salvation. His invitation is ours to either reject or to receive. But if we do receive His salvation, it is important to understand what is involved. It goes back to what Paul wrote in Galatians 2 and verse 20. <I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.> When we signed up to be a child of God, we made a commitment to him. We decided to deny ourselves, to take up our cross and to follow Jesus. And every day we make that decision to die to ourselves and to live by our faith. Every day we decide to turn our back on any and every thing that stands in our way of being a faithful and dedicated servant. Every day we make the decision to surrender ourselves and to live by and to obey the will of God. And with that decision, we receive God's Holy Spirit. And we choose to have as much of Him as we so desire. We choose to allow the Spirit to lead us into a closer walk with the Lord. We choose to live by our faith in Jesus Christ, our Savior. Going back to the letter called Titus, this is the way Paul puts it, here in chapter 2, verses 11 to 13. <For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope -the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.> God's grace has been extended to us. And if we fully receive and accept it, then we will live by the Fruit of the Spirit. We will live by the Fruit of self-control. We will live godly lives as we anticipate God's glory. And with that, we will pursue a life that is upright and good. We will also recognize there are thoughts we cannot think, there are words we cannot say, and places we cannot go. There are desires we cannot have, attitudes we cannot possess and relationships we cannot pursue. It simply means we choose to live by the Fruit of the Spirit and to keep in step with Him. You know, sometimes the Fruit of the Spirit is represented by a cluster of grapes or some kind of fruit that is hanging on a tree, and perhaps we have seen those illustrations. But perhaps a better image of that would be an orange. I think about an orange, that's a fruit. And when we peel back the layers of the outer part here, we find slices of this orange. In fact, in one very similar to this, there were nine slices. And I know that when we do that, each slice is as important as the other one. Each slice has something to offer. Each slice is equal in value, but together they all make up and they constitute an orange. And that's the way it is with the Fruit of the Spirit. The Fruit of the Spirit is one, made up of nine individual slices or characteristics. You know, today we have been given the greatest gift of all time, the gift of our salvation. We are God's children. And as a result, God places His approval upon us by giving to us the Holy Spirit; and what a gift, privilege and responsibility. God simply wants us to say thank you for them. And perhaps the best way to do that is to be filled up with and to live by the Holy Spirit of God. As we close this lesson, let’s ask ourself the question, how will I demonstrate not only the Fruit of self control but all of the Fruit of the Holy Spirit in my life this week.

**VIDEO CLIP 

I don't know about you, but I like to eat. In fact, I do not want to skip any meals. And sometimes I get hungry before it is time to eat, and so I have a snack. But it's always a challenge to make sure that I do not eat too much. Again, I don't know if you have that problem or not, but for me it's a challenge, it's a temptation, and I need to practice self-control. When I get hungry, I don't want to overeat. When I eat too much, then I have health problems. You know, all of those things come into play when it comes to a matter of self-control. Do we have control of ourself? Do we take control of what we eat or don't eat? Are we in control of how much we exercise? Are we in control of how much we work or watch television, or a host of other things? Practicing self-control is important. In fact, that is one of the nine Fruit of the Spirit that Paul writes about in Galatians chapter 5. The more we practice self-control, the more disciplined life we will live. And that's important! As we think about being disciples of Jesus Christ, it is important we practice discipline. It all flows together. As we strive to be the kind of disciples Jesus wants us to be, we need to be disciplined. We need to live lives of self-control so that we line ourselves up with a teaching of the commands of the Lord. I would encourage you today to think about practicing self-control and living a disciplined life.

**CONCLUSION

Thank you for joining us for today's episode on “Key to the Kingdom.” We may not always want to practice self-control. It might be hard to live a challenging lifestyle all the time. And yet the Lord calls upon us to do that if we want to be His disciples. If you would like to hear this message again, please go to our website. It is keytothekingdom.com, and there you will find this lesson along with many others. I would encourage you to download any of them without any charge or obligation; and they are available in video, audio and written format. Bible lessons and other studies are on the website, as well; and I would encourage you to download any of them that might be of assistance in your walk with the Lord. Once again, thank you for joining us for today's study. I invite you to tune in again next time as we continue to study the Bible on “Key to the Kingdom.”