Sometimes I wonder if the reason temperance (or self control) is the last Fruit of the Spirit listed is because it is the hardest to attain? It certainly seems to be difficult for me. I am the world's worst procrastinator - or should I say the best, because I actually am very good at putting things off! That's not good, Robin. That is not the only way I need to work on self control. Temperance would be a good thing for me to practice in several areas of my life.
Sometimes, when I think of self-control or self-discipline I think of being rigid and unyielding, never allowing themselves to relax or have any fun. I think of someone always being very serious. I think of someone being very hard on themselves. Yet, when I study the Bible I realize that God has an entirely different meaning for temperance or self control. Yes, it does take work to learn to control our desires or your temptations. If a temptation is particularly strong - we may to be hard on ourselves to keep us from falling. But remember one of the other fruits of the Spirit is joy. Our theme for Vacation Bible School this summer was the Fruits of the Spirit. We had a great Bible School. All of us studied great lessons on the fruits of the Spirit mentioned in Galatians 5:22. One of the things I liked best about the lessons is that they were based on events in the life of Christ and how He personified each one of the fruits. Jesus, our Lord and Savior, was our perfect example. His life is the pattern we should follow. We all know that. So I truly enjoyed studying about the fruits in relation to how Christ showed them in His life.
At the end of the week, we were reviewing with our first and second grade students. We asked them to define each of these fruits. In our book, we did not study them in the same order as Paul listed them in Galatians. In our book, love was the last one we studied. So when we got to love, one of young ladies in our class said tat it was really all of the others rolled up into one. She said if someone has love in their hearts like Jesus wants us to have, that they will be kind and gentle and patient and faithful. I thought she made a very good point. Does love include self control? Yes, it does.
Think of all the times that Christ exhibited self-control. The lesson we studied in Vacation Bible School was His temptation by satan in the wilderness after Jesus had been fasting for 40 days and nights. His body was weak, but His spirit was not. Christ did not yield to the devil's temptations then or ever. He lived a perfect life. He definitely practiced self control here. And the basis of His self control was His love for the Father. He had the strength to deny Himself because He knew His Father - our Father would not be pleased if he succumbed to any of these temptations.
What about all the times that the scribes and Pharisees hounded Him in their relentless effort to discredit Him? Jesus could have done away with them. He could have caused Himself to vanish. He could have struck them down with a plague or something like God did to the Israelites in the wilderness every time they doubted Him. Do you remember how many times God wanted to destroy the people? Jesus could have done that too. He didn't. He chose not to. He said that he had not come to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. (John 3:17)
God created man with free will. It was always His plan - His desire that we choose Him. He wants us to choose to be with Him - to choose to follow Him. That being said, Jesus could have used His power to control those who questioned them. How easy it would have been for Him to have used mind control over those scribes and Pharisees. But that would have taken away their choice - their free will. Instead, Christ continued to try to teach them about who He is and also about the Heavenly Father. Why? Well, it was because Jesus loved even those scribes and Pharisees. He did not want any to perish.
Jesus used temperance or self control in dealing with the multitudes that thronged Him constantly. They followed Him everywhere He went. They brought their sick and stood in lines to have them healed. Lepers pleaded with Him, blind men called to Him. People begged Him to heal their children. Remember when Jesus was in a house that was so crowded nobody else could get in it? I wonder what that was like? Those four men made a hole in the roof and dropped their friend down in front of Jesus, so He would heal Him. He could have said -- "Can't you people ever give me one minute's rest?" But we all know He didn't do that and we all know why He didn't. It was because of His great love and compassion for the people. He had an incredible love for those who were hurting -- those who were seeking Him.
We could recall many other examples of how Christ used self-control. How about when they brought to Him the woman who was caught in adultery? How about with His apostles who never ever seemed to get the idea that His kingdom would not be an earthly one? He tried so hard to teach them. When we consider the life of Christ, it is easy to understand that self-control is included in love - just like joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and gentleness. As for me, I begin to understand that if I love my Savior and I want to be like Him I must practice self control in all areas of my life. Spiritual growth is an ongoing process and sometimes we - I have to work at it.
Christ above all things,
Robin
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