Self-Control

But the fruit of the Spirit is...self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23 NIV)

I don’t know about you, but for me life, at times, can be a roller coaster ride.  The thing about roller coaster rides is that they can be really fun if you relax and enjoy the ride.  It can be terrifying if you try to control the ride.  It can be fatal if you try to get off the ride before it’s over.

Sometimes, my greatest problem is trying to control the things in my life over which I have no control.  I don’t have control over all my circumstances.  I don’t have control over over other people.  I do have control, though, over myself.  God gives me control through the power of His Spirit.

Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city. (Proverbs 16:32 NIV)

I can’t stop a thought from coming into my mind.  But I can take that thought captive and, if I do what the Apostle Paul did, I make it obedient to Christ.  I can’t control the sins of my past, whether they are the sins I’ve chosen to do or sins that have been done to me.  I can control, however, what I do about my past. 

I can choose to let God heal my heart, one memory at a time.  I can choose to repent of my own sins, because my past does not need to dictate my future.  I can choose to clearly see my past by replacing lies the enemy fed me with the truth that comes from God. I can choose to heal the hurt in my past by taking God by the hand and forgiving those who have sinned…including me.  I may not be able to control what happens to me, but I can control what happens in me.  That makes it easier to control what comes out of me.

Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control. (Proverbs 25:28 NIV)

How about you?  Do you try to control your circumstances or other people?  How does that work out for you?  Do you exercise self-control?  How does that work out for you and God?