Self Control
Midweek Study with Pastor Edith
October 3, 2024, 2024
Today we come to the ninth fruit of the Spirit; Self-Control. The Greek word, Enkrateia, means to have a great force under control. In our common English, it means “control of one’s feelings, desires or actions by one’s own will” (Webster’s II New Riverside University Dictionary). There is a big difference between the Greek understanding of self-control; which the Apostle Paul uses in his letter to the Galatians, and our American English understanding of self-control. The difference is in who has the control.
To be in relationship with Christ Jesus is to be willing to submit to the control of the Holy Spirit. This is the counselor and helper that Jesus promised his followers (John 14:25-26). Apart from that relationship, we are on our own and have only our own willpower to overcome temptation. One of the many temptations humans face is the way we speak with and about others. James, the brother of Jesus, writes; “With our tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be” (James 3:9-10).
I found a little poem by Louisa May Alcott that puts it very well; “A little Kingdom I possess, where thoughts and feelings dwell; And very hard the task I find of governing it well. I do not ask for any crown but that which all may win; Nor try to conquer any world except the one within”. I will end this meditation with the prompting of Paul’s words in Galatians 5:25; “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit”.
Amen!