Self-Control

Self-Control

1 Thessalonians 5:6-8 “So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.”

There are so many times when we need to have self-control. It can range from not eating a cookie because you are on a diet or going to work instead of blowing it off. It can be hard to deny yourself the things that you want in the moment, but it takes self-control to keep yourself from doing the things you know you shouldn’t.

It may not seem like it, but Jesus had to deal with self-control, too. We think of him as God, but he was also human. He was still tempted, much like we are. What really made him perfect was his ability to say no when it was necessary. In Luke 4:13, Jesus is in the wilderness being tempted by the devil. He was out there for forty days, not eating and being constantly tempted. Satan offered him food and chances to show off his power. The devil told him to throw himself off a building and have the angels come and save him. This would prove that he was absolutely the son of God to people that did not believe, but Jesus had the control to not do that. He trusted God’s plan to bring him through the wilderness.

In this world, we are constantly being tempted. The world tells us to turn from God, but we must also trust him to bring us through, just like he did for Jesus. It is hard to deny yourself the pleasures that the devil tells you that you deserve, but you must refuse those things. God will take care of you. Ask him to give you self-control in the areas that you need and he will grant you the ability to make it out of your own wilderness.