found it kind of neat that Marge spoke of the vine and the branches last week, for I had already decided to talk about the fruit of the Spirit, tonight. 🙂 like Marge mentioned, In John 15: 4 “it says Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. It seems kind of curious what this fruit would be. In Galatians 5:22-25 in the NIV, it also talks about fruit. And it says
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”
So, by remaining in Christ we began to exude the fruits of the Spirit. We must “keep in step with the Spirit”
For me Self-Control is probably the hardest listed. And self-control is obviously pretty important! It is one of the attributes that God has been pressing on my heart to work on this year. I thought it would be helpful to look up some points about Self-Control. As it is something that is taught that we need in the Bible, I felt it was wise to share my findings.
First Let’s define Self –control. Self-control is the ability to control oneself, in particular one's emotions and desires or the expression of them in one's behavior, especially in difficult situations.
So, it is important to God that our emotions are in check, along with our behavior. Like when the LORD was telling Samuel to anoint the next king, he said about one of David’s brothers that “looked” to be the very essence of a king. 1 Sam 16:7, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” it is important to God that we get our heart right.
Coach John Wooden is a legendary basketball coach of the UCLA Bruins he won 10 national championships within 12 years, 7 of which were consecutive, and was named national coach of the year 6 times. Wooden managed to make an impact as a coach, leader, and teacher to not only his players, but to people all over the country. He has a “Pyramid of Success”. That includes Self-control. And he says, “Self-control, regardless of what we are doing, whether it involves a physical act or a mental decision, must be maintained to produce desirable results. If emotion takes over, reason usually flies out the window and the acts or decisions are not likely to be as productive as they should be.” According to John Wooden self-control is a “prerequisites for a leader and an organization whose goal is to perform at the highest level of which they are capable.” Self-Control is a major part of maturity.
So, I searched for ways to maintain self-control and found a list it includes 10 Strategies for Developing Self-Control which I thought to be very helpful. These are from Psychology Today -
1) A can-do attitude - As a Christian our strength comes from knowing that God is in control. In Matt 19: 26 Jesus said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
2) Goals - Goals basically guide our choices. The more specific the goal, the better able you are to reach it. A good guideline for goals is to make them … SMART -Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-based. Something that is concrete and easy to monitor.
3) Self Monitor - Self-monitoring helps us to become experts on our own behaviors. By doing so, it will make habits easier to change. It is a form of feedback.
4) Motivation - The more you want the goal, the more likely you are willing to make the efforts and sacrifices required to achieve it.
5) Confidence - An important component of motivation is the person’s self-perceived ability to achieve it. People won’t build up much motivation for change if they believe it is impossible for them. those with strong beliefs are more likely to continue their efforts to master a task when difficulties arise.
6) Willpower – Willpower represents strength or psychological energy that one uses to resist other temptations in order to work toward one’s goal. Thus, having only one goal makes self-control more successful than when people have two or more conflicting goals.
7)Avoiding Temptation - this requires anticipating situations where unwanted desires might emerge and taking proactive steps to ensure that one doesn’t succumb to the unwanted desire.
8) The How and Why - “Why” questions encourage long-term thinking, or desirability of pursuing an action. In contrast, “How” questions bring the mind down to the present and consider the goal’s Success. The Why questions can benefit people to keep going on maintaining a new habit. As a German Philosopher once remarked, “He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.”
9) Self-control as a pattern of behavior. - basically, your actions today affect your actions tomorrow. It is said, “self-control comes from choosing ‘patterns’ of behavior over time rather than individual ‘acts.’”
10) Automated Goals - Goal pursuits can be enhanced by a simple planning strategy: making If-then plans that connect a certain triggering situation with a concrete behavior. And the person is now on automatic pilot- the planned action will be triggered directly by the specified cue. Thus, when people are stressed or distracted, they can fall back on good habits.
God says He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. (1 Cor 10:13). And in 2 Tim 1:7 it says God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of Power and of love and of a sound mind. He will give us the strength and power to have the self-control that we long for and he requires.
Like a great Meme on Facebook says...You can eat all the kale, buy all the things, lift all the weights, take all the trips, trash all that doesn’t spark joy, wash your face and hustle like mad, but if you don’t rest your soul in Jesus, you’ll never find peace and purpose.
No comments:
Post a Comment