Self Control

The Fruits of the Spirit are suppose to be fruit of every Christian. In fact, Jesus Christ Himself said, "Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit," (Matthew 12:33), "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing," (John 15:5), and "The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire," (Matthew 3:10). It is evident that our Lord Emmanuel makes fruit bearing important, but what is the fruit? It is not obviously literal fruit such as apples, bananas, and grapes; but it is spiritual. The Holy Spirit fills us in, He through Paul says, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience [even temper, forbearance, longsuffering], kindness [gentleness], goodness, faithfulness [faith], gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." (Galatians 5:22-23). When Apostle mentions the Spirit, He is speaking of Jesus (Romans 8:11) and the Holy Spirit who Jesus said would, "But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." (John 14:26). The Fruit of Spirit are the character of Christ, The Father, and Holy Spirit; the proofs that we are indeed His children through faith. When you examine each fruit they all allude to Jesus, there is love which God is (1 John 4:18), there is peace which Christ has the ultimate peace (Phillippians 4:7), patience or longsuffering is also Christ because He bore a cross (Phillippians 2:7-11), the fruit of kindness is also Jesus because He is kind (Titus 3:4-6), Christ is obviously the source of goodness since He is God (Colossians 2:9) and only God is good (Mark 10:18). The fruit of faithfulness is also God who is faithful (1 Corinthians 1:9), Jesus is gentle and humble of heart (Matthew 11:29, 1 Peter 3:4), and finally Self Control is modeled by Jesus who so mastered Himself that He died on cross despite the strong desire to stay alive programmed in all of us.

Of all these fruits I want to pay special attention to Self Control. It is my estimation that most claim they are loving, kind, peaceful, joyful, good, faithful, and gentle; very few people want to build patience or self control. We live in an age where self control is rare. People have adopted a post modern view of life, and so controlling oneself is not only not a thing, but it is also considered impossible, as people say, "I can't help it, I had to or I just couldn't control myself." This is a lie, the truth is that self control is a fruit of Christ and the Holy Spirit. What does self control mean? The Greek word reads, "ἐγκράτεια, ας, ἡ, egkrateia, self-mastery, self-restraint, self-control, continence, egkráteia (from /en, "in the sphere of" and  /krátos, "dominion, mastery") – properly, dominion within, i.e. "self-control" – proceeding out from within oneself, but not by oneself. For the believer,  /egkráteia ("self-control, Spirit-control") can only be accomplished by the power of the Lord. Accordingly, /egkráteia ("true mastery from within") is explicitly called a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:23)." (Strong's Concordance). It is evident that egkrateia is a true mastery of within that can only be accomplished by the power of LORD, because as aforementioned, the fruit of Spirit are found in Jesus, and Holy Spirit. 

Self mastery is often turned into asceticism, doing harsh acts like abstaining from foods, and other passions that corrupt the flesh. However, this is not what the Lord Jesus or His apostles are talking about, "If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used) according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh." (Colossians 2:20-23). The way to bear the Fruit of Spirit, and learn self mastery is from Master Jesus Christ. For Jesus though He is God took on human flesh and was tested in every way, and had to control His desire to use His powers, "You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.Though he was God,
    he did not think of equality with God
    as something to cling to.
⁷ Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
    he took the humble position of a slave
    and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
⁸     he humbled himself in obedience to God
    and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

⁹ Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor
    and gave him the name above all other names,
¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹ and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord,    to the glory of God the Father," (Philippians 2:5-11), and at Gethsemane He had to submit His will to His Father's Will (1 Corinthians 15:28). Christ Jesus tells us to deny ourselves, self master, "Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me." (Matthew 16:24). This self denial requires partnering with Christ who lives in us who believe (Colossians 1:27, Romans 8:10-20, 1 Corinthians 3:16). Only Jesus Christ who is God Man was able to resist the flesh and sin, "This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin." (Hebrews 4:15). Thus Christ in us can teach us this Self Control and Self Mastery, "Do not let yourselves be called leaders or teachers; for One is your Leader (Teacher), the Christ." (Matthew 23:10 AMP). We have to partner with Jesus and help Him teach us self mastery, not try to do it foolhardily through asceticism and harshness to the body and emotions. Only through partnering in our relationship with Christ can we learn how to master ourselves, and stop letting the Old Flesh control us. This is the secret to Self Control, a close relationship with Jesus Christ, and letting Him lead us from within to master our thoughts, "We are destroying sophisticated arguments and every exalted and proud thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought and purpose captive to the obedience of Christ," (2 Corinthians 10:5), emotions, "And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus," (Philippians 4:7), 

and actions, "Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love." (2 Peter 1:5-9). Ony through Christ can we achieve the aim of mastering the self, and mastering self should be through relationship with Christ, not in some self improvement or law keeping. We have to learn self control in our close relationship with Jesus Christ. He is the One who can teach us, and He is patient, kind, love, and all fruits of Spirit Himself, so He is able to bear with us as we learn from Him. Amen.