Self-Control

Overview

We’ve been looking at Christian practices, or spiritual disciplines, by which our character changes. Now, instead of looking at one practice, we’ll look at how a number of practices come together to create one particular character quality: self-control.

A self-control problem is when you’re doing something you desperately want to stop, but can’t. There are the classic addictions like drinking and drugs, spending and gambling, overeating and undereating. But we shouldn’t think of self-control just in those terms. We also have trouble controlling our tongues, our thoughts, our time, and our emotions. Because all of us have some problems with self-control, we had better figure out what to do about it. Otherwise, our problems with self-control will strip us of our careers, of our relationships, or even of our physical lives.

These two passages from 1 Corinthians 9 and 10 are Paul’s insight into what the Bible says about self-control. We’ll start to make progress if we grasp three things: 1) the centrality of the heart, 2) the power of the gospel, and 3) the endurance of Jesus.