and they shall call His name Immanuel
Self-control seems like a straightforward concept, but the more I look into it the more aspects I discover, and self-control can be a difficult characteristic of Christlikeness to grasp. It is the Spirit Who gives believer this self-control, so how is it self-control? Examples from my own life, when coupled with scripture, helped me to understand this characteristic better.
A year ago, I had several arborvitae trees removed. The landscaper felt uneasy about buried pipes, so I told him to cut the trees off at the ground, and I’d take care of the stumps. He advised me to drill several holes in each stump, fill the holes with a certain tree-kill product, wait a few months for the stumps to rot, and dig them up.
After a few months, the stumps remained as hard as rocks. I drilled more holes, filled them with the product and waited. In the interim, I bought a mattock (think a cross between a hoe and an axe.) Recently, I grabbed my new tool to test it on one of the stumps. The stump, though dead, seemed as resilient as ever.
As I dug (also, see my post for 5/02/18, “Plow Around the Stump”), I discovered the roots had become brittle, and I could break them with the mattock. In about a half hour, the stump came free! I had to work at it, but I had one less stump to remove, and I learned an important lesson.
Before my success with this stump, I thought the stumps would be almost impossible for me to remove. I couldn’t see it from the surface, but the underlying roots holding the stump in the ground were dead and brittle, making them easier to loosen and break with my mattock. My assumption had been wrong, but I still had to fight the stump to remove it.
After I cleaned up, I poured a cup of coffee, and sat down in a quiet place to consider the experience. I think God works in my life like this. I can’t always see His hand at work, but I need to trust Him, and believe He’s “getting at the root” of the problems I face, to bless me.
Also, I realize God sometimes requires me to fight for blessings He has given. In my experience, people don’t always place a high value on that which is easily obtained. When we have to struggle to obtain something, do we value it more, or do we fight for something because we value it, or both? I recall some memories.
In third grade, I admired my teacher, Mrs. Ross. About halfway through the school year, she called me to her desk, and told me she had to give me a “C-minus” on my spelling. I’ll never forget the look of disappointment on her face, as she handed me a number of my past spelling test papers. I went back to my desk and reviewed the tests. For some, half my answers were marked as misspelled. I recognized my handwriting, but I couldn’t remember taking any of the tests! I realized I hadn’t cared about them, and I had made Mrs. Ross feel bad. From that day forward, I studied my spelling with diligence, and aced every test. My reward? Mrs. Ross smiled at my test performance, and as a side benefit, I became a pretty good speller. God had used my admiration for Mrs. Ross to open my eyes to learning, but I still had to study hard; I still had to fight for it.
Also, I recalled the following year, when I was 9 years old, I began piano lessons, and continued for the next 5 years, until my parents moved. I would practice my Hanon exercises until my forearms ached. I wanted to play better, but the real reward was to please my piano teacher, Norma Mattos. I considered her a wonderful person, and she always made my lessons a joy, so enduring the pain was a small price to pay, if it made her happy. Norma taught me how to play, but to put it to use, I had to discipline myself to practice.
In the Bible, the book of Joshua recounts how the Israelites were given the Promised Land by God, but He didn’t hand it to them without any effort. They had to fight for every square inch and found victory so long as they leaned upon God in faith.
I believe, for Christians, self-control is like this. We have to fight for it. I’m speaking of the self-control as a characteristic of the fruit of the Spirit, which Paul described in Scripture.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23, NASB.)
During the Christmas season, it’s easy to spot excess, whether people eating too much food, engaging in revelry with friends, buying gifts and loading up on debt. When Candace bakes for friends, neighbors, or gatherings, I’m happy to sacrifice my time, to help out with taste testing. Glad to help dear! But alas, this doesn’t help my waistline.
Scripture tells us believers struggle with self-control because we are at war with our old nature. The Apostle Paul struggled with control of sin.
“We know that the Law is spiritual, but I am a creature of the flesh [worldly, self-reliant—carnal and unspiritual], sold into slavery to sin [and serving under its control]. For I do not understand my own actions [I am baffled and bewildered by them]. I do not practice what I want to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate [and yielding to my human nature, my worldliness—my sinful capacity]” (Romans 7:14-15, AMP.)
This point is also driven home in I John:
“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (I John 1:8, ESV.)
Sin sounds like a problem not easily overcome. I know this struggle is true for me, but I also know from God’s Word, as a Christian, I don’t win this battle in my own strength. The truth is that we are born in sin, and unable to make ourselves righteous or self-controlled (sorry, Pelagius.)
Still, there exists a pervasive attitude in secular society, and even among some Christians, that says, “What the mind can conceive the will can accomplish.” Whenever I see one of those “superhero” ads, I think, “Okay, then let’s see you put on your best jumping shoes and leap over your house.” Don’t think so. So, maybe we can’t do anything we believe we can.
Here’s the good news. We have a Savior, and “all things are possible” with Him (Matthew 19:26.) He understands us.
“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15, ESV.)
In this Advent season, when we think about the birth of the Christ child, I recall the gifts that the Magi brought before Him. Gold spoke of His royalty, frankincense of His Deity, but myrrh was used in the preparation of the deceased for burial. Could this have been a reference to the fact Jesus came in the flesh to die on a cross for our sins? Even more, could the myrrh have shown us that His followers would also have to die for Him? The Word says,
“I have been crucified with Christ [that is, in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body I live by faith [by adhering to, relying on, and completely trusting] in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (Galatians 2:20, AMP.)
Gold, frankincense, and myrrh; King, God, and Savior. Believers are called to die to themselves, to be self-controlled, but in the power of Christ living in us, and not in our own power. This way, we’ll succeed at living Godly, self-controlled lives, but since we’re doing it in God’s strength, He’ll get the glory, and that should bring us joy.
“For it is [not your strength, but it is] God who is effectively at work in you, both to will and to work [that is, strengthening, energizing, and creating in you the longing and the ability to fulfill your purpose] for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13, AMP.)
But what does this look like from ground level? How do I, as a Christian, practice self-control, when this is a fruit cultivated in me by the Spirit, and I put it to use in my life for Christ in His strength, and not in my own? “Self”-control, what a contradiction in terms!
John Piper gave an answer to this dilemma in a sermon. He called his solution A.P.T.A.T., which stands for Admit, Pray, Trust, Act, Thank. (J. I. Packer, gave similar steps in his book, Keep in Step with the Spirit, c. 1984, pp. 125-126.) Admit you can do nothing without Christ; pray for God’s help for the task at hand; trust in a particular promise of God’s help; then, in faith, act; finally, thank God for the help received. John Piper believes the middle step, trust, is all-important. Claim a promise from scripture, and act while trusting in the promise.
One I use is, II Corinthians 9:8, “And God is able to make all grace overflow to you, so that, always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed;” (NASB.)
Jesus demonstrated perfect self-control; he was obedient to the point of death on the cross. He was treated with cruelty, and when He was arrested at Gethsemane, He could have called down legions of angels, but He remained obedient to the Father (Matthew 26:53.)
So the Spirit cultivates this Christ-like characteristic, self-control, in every believer. What a mystery, and what a wonderful truth! But again, we must fight for it, and trust God in this. The world is filled with temptations and evil that seeks to destroy our faith.
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control. Love is the door to the fruit of the Spirit and growing in Christlikeness, and self-control is the door by which Christ can walk through us to draw others unto Himself.
The first Christmas morning, the shepherds witnessed, “And the angel said unto them, ‘Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all the people’” (Luke 2:10, ASV.)
There’s a classic hymn, titled “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms” (E. A. Hoffman, 1887.) The first chorus reads, “What a fellowship, what a joy divine, leaning on the Everlasting Arms! What a blessedness, what a peace is mine, leaning on the Everlasting Arms!”
There’s a saying, “You can’t dig a hole while leaning on a shovel.” Are you leaning on a shovel?
Or are you leaning on the Everlasting Arms?
Selah.