Practicing Self-Control

Ever heard someone constantly blame others for their actions or it’s always someone else’s fault & never the person in the wrong? Sometimes we, as people, often justify our actions by including another; hoping to exclude ourselves or dull the light on our own situation/wrong doings. If we’re honest with self, we never really take full responsibility for our actions when we excuse them. Even when we look to God to do it all by saying “well, God isn’t through with me yet…he’s still working on me” or “nobody’s perfect”. True, we’re ALL still a work in progress & none of us are perfect but, while he’s working on us, are we taking the time to work on ourselves? There are several times in the Bible where God tells us to discipline ourselves & practice self control (Heb. 12:11, Prov. 25:28, 1Cor. 9:24-27, Titus 2:11-14). We trust God to do his part, yes but, there are certain godly behaviors that we, ourselves, have to practice (James 2:14-26, Titus 2:12) in order to please Him. From my own personal experiences, if we don’t except full responsibility for our actions, we can not grow & sometimes we began to repeat the same behavior(s); causing us to remain stagnated in the spirit realm & in the mind. We’re human, so we’re gonna sin & fall short but, we have to be honest with self in order for God to deliver us from ALL ungodliness (1John 1:5-10)…without excuses.

In order to discipline ourselves, we have to PRACTICE good/holiness & not lawlessness. When we practice a sport, a hobby or career, we become excellent at it…almost perfect in it (i.e. an expert)…and it becomes 2nd nature to us, right? So likewise, we have to practice godliness/self-control. Work on areas within us that’s not Christ-like. We don’t have to be perfect but, he expects us to work on our short comings (and acknowledge them) so that He can come in, freely, & deliver us.

It’s important for those of us seeking to please God, to hold our flesh accountable for the things we say and do (2Cor.5:10, Romans 1:18-20, Matt. 12:36)…willfully knowing that it’s wrong/sinful (Hebrews 10:26) “For if we go on sinning deliberately after

receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins”,( James 4:17 ) “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” (1 John 5:17) “All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.”

One of the things that helped me PRACTICE godliness, was separating myself from the things that I knew made me weak & those areas that I knew weren’t godly. True confession is good for the soul, right? So I had to be honest with God & myself to acknowledge, “God, I’m weak in this area and I need your strength to help me overcome this.” Sometimes we don’t like the raw truth about what’s going on within us & in our lives, so we try to mask it or dress it up so it won’t seem as bad. We don’t always want light shed in our dark places but, remember God represents light & sin/Satan represents darkness. As Heb. 12:11 reminded us, “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” So in the moment, disciplining ourselves may feel uncomfortable & unpleasant but, it’ll be worth it in the end. Our soul depends upon it! We wanna produce the fruits of the spirits & be who God called us to be by practicing Christ-like behaviors/characteristics. That may mean separating ourselves from certain people, places, & things that make us spiritually weak and displeasing to God (2 Cor.6:17). Doesn’t mean hating anybody but, just loving God enough to please Him & not our flesh (Romans 8:5-13,Gal. 5:16, Gal.5:19-21).