Self-Control

Here's a question for you: what is self-control? I mean, yes, it can be something as simple as not finishing off a whole pie in one sitting, but what is it really? In my quiet times, I've been making my way through the sweet little book of Titus. In these mere three chapters, Paul tries to encourage his padawan in how to lead the church on the island of Cyprus. I just finished chapter 2 and in that chapter, Paul tells Titus to teach the older men to be SELF-CONTROLLED, to raise up the older women so they can train the younger ones to be SELF-CONTROLLED, he to encourage the young men to be SELF-CONTROLLED and finally he talks of how God's grace teaches us to live SELF-CONTROLLED lives.

Now, when you read any part of Scripture one of the biggest rules is that when you see something repeated, you may want to take notice...and needless to say this got my attention. I didn't necessarily think that I struggled with "self-control" per se, but I think it's because I was only thinking of it in a very limited way, but it really is defined controlling your emotions or desires especially in difficult situations. So yeah, I've come to realize that self-control isn't just dealing with small shallow things, but really it's at the base of living a godly life and being obedient to God's Word... this self-control plays into whether or not we do not sin in our anger, allow any unwholesome word to come out of our mouths, honor our parents, or are anxious for nothing....and the list goes on. In Romans 7:7, Paul talks about that it was by his learning what the law said about coveting that he began to have "every kind of covetous desire". I guess that's in a way where I'm at with this self-control thing, that it's really amazing how much of a failure I am at displaying that in my life right now. I guess that's yet another thing to chalk up to support "All Scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, REBUKING, correcting, and training in righteousness".