A Fruitful LifeSample

Look around and ask yourself, "What do I spend most of my time doing? What does this behavior say about me?"

Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you want to become. However, as Paul says in Romans 7, "I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate." Does that sound familiar to you? The good news is...

1. You're not alone

2. There is a solution

One of the main obstacles between who you are and who you want to be is self-control. Why does self-control matter? Why can't we just do whatever we want in the moment? Easy. Because we want to be free.

The reality is you are either controlled by your desires or you allow the Holy Spirit to empower you to control yourself.

If we do not discipline ourselves and rule over our own actions, we leave ourselves vulnerable to temptation, the influence of the world and the enemy, and sin. That makes it very hard to live out the previous fruits of the spirit. How can we love if we succumb to hate? How can we have peace when we allow jealousy in our hearts?

Isn't it interesting that self-control is the last fruit of the Spirit listed? It makes sense if you look at Galatians. It shows us that in order to not become conceited, we need self-control to keep in step with the Spirit.

The perfect example of this fruit, self-control, is found in Jesus. Jesus is the one person who had perfect self-control His entire life. He never sinned at all. Think about that kind of self-control! He never acted on temptations.

You might think, “Well, Jesus must have lived a life very different from me."

No way! In fact, the Bible says that Jesus was tempted to sin in every way that we are tempted (Hebrews 4:15)

So how do we have that kind of control over our own thoughts and actions?

Take these 6 steps to self-control in order to begin developing self-control in your life:

1. Renew your mind through God's Word

2. Pray for the Holy Spirit's help

3. Confess your habits to God and others

4. Identify and remove your triggers

5. Remember the gospel when you fail

- Michael Oquendo, VP of Marketing & Communications

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