“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
– Galatians 5:22-23
Over the past few weeks we’ve reflected on the fruit that Paul says the Holy Spirit can produce inside of us as we grow and mature as followers of Christ. We’ve looked at the fruits of Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, and Gentleness. Today’s meditation will be on the final fruit of the nine: Self-Control.
When we think of those who possessed this fruit in the Bible, we remember the self-control of David with sparing King Saul’s life, not only once but twice. Despite Saul’s intentions to kill him, David knew that to kill the man the Lord had anointed as King would be an act of disobedience to the God. “As surely as the Lord lives,” [David] said, “the Lord himself will strike him, or his time will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish. But the Lord forbid that I should lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed”
(1 Samuel 26:10-11).
In Genesis 39, we look back on the story of Joseph the servant in Potiphar’s house and the self-control he displayed, as Potiphar’s wife tried over and over to get Joseph to sleep with her while her husband wasn’t around. But perhaps Joseph displayed even more self-control later on when he was wrongly accused of trying to rape her. His refusal to even respond to the allegations, despite surely facing punishment as a result, would be a foreshadowing of the self-control that Jesus demonstrated through his refusal to respond to Herod’s line of questioning before his crucifixion (Luke 23:9).
In Daniel 1:8 we read, “But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way.” Most Jewish men exiled to serving in Nebuchadnezzar’s palace would’ve seen this royal banquet of food as a just reward. But not Daniel and his three buddies, for they refused to compromise their obedience to God, and God rewarded them for their self-denial.
But no greater example exists in all of Scripture than the evening when Jesus demonstrated self-control while being arrested. We remember Peter courageously drawing his sword and cutting off the guard’s ear who came forward to apprehend Jesus, only to hear the Messiah’s harsh rebuke. “Put your sword away! Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?” (Matt. 26:52-54)
In Matthew 16:24, Jesus tells us what we must do if we want to become his disciples. Speaking to his own disciples, Jesus said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” I don’t know about you, but when I hear the word deny I immediately think about having to give up something that I desperately want, like the rich young man in Mark’s gospel who refused to give up his wealth to follow Jesus.
But maybe it’s not wealth. It might be status and influence, or a relationship, or an unhealthy lifestyle, or maybe comfort and convenience, or even vanity and pride. I think if most of us are honest, we can readily identify with how hard it is to deny at least a few of those.
Perhaps a question worth considering is, “How much self-control do I truly have if I’m unwilling to prevent something from becoming more important in my life than following Christ?”
One final thought to ponder: Without the self-control Jesus illustrated to us in following His Father’s perfect plan, we would face death as punishment for our sin. Self-control might be the final fruit of the bunch but certainly not the least, for it helps us to respond to others in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and gentleness.
Paul says in 2nd Timothy 1:7, “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” With the Holy Spirit inside of us, we are able to possess self-control and demonstrate all the fruits of the Spirit. As a result, we can live in a way that is honorable and pleasing to God.
Former Blackout Artist 