Steadfast, Immovable, Abounding

This is the ninth installment in my series of posts about the fruit of the Spirit.

What controls you?

What prompts you to action?

What are the powers to which you will never say “no”?

For believers, there should be only one answer to each of these questions: Christ, and Christ alone. His pleasure should be our greatest reward; His will should command every movement; His love should be our most powerful motivation. If anything on earth has a greater hold on us than God, it has taken a sinful position in our lives—whether it is inherently sinful or not. How terrible it would be to hear God say what the church at Ephesus heard: “you have left your first love” (Revelation 2:4). If Jesus is first in our lives, then the flesh must be kept under control. We can never truly escape it on this earth, but the redemption of Christ means we are no longer slaves to it. Our lives should proclaim the truth that Jesus is worth more than the treasures of the earth.

It can be so easy to act first and think later—especially when we can find some way to justify our actions afterwards. We call that reckless outburst of rage “righteous anger.” We tell ourselves the words we speak aren’t wrong, because we “used them differently than most people.” We don’t consider our nasty attitude to be sinful, because we’re just “being honest about how we feel.” But having self-control means not allowing our emotions to lead us, for our emotions can be both misguided and fleeting. We must not let our actions be reactions to temptation, but rather reactions to the goodness of God. Proverbs 25:28 says, “Like a city that is broken into and without walls is a man who has no control over his spirit.” Without self-control, we are laid bare to the attacks of the enemy, defenseless to his never-ceasing temptations. I think it’s interesting that self-control is the last fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5. Self-control is the behind-the-scenes promoter of every other fruit; it quells the fruits of the flesh, thereby encouraging the fruit of the Spirit.

Temptation has been around since the very beginning. Genesis 3:4-6 says: “The serpent said to the woman, ‘You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.” Eve didn’t disobey just because she really loved fruit. Satan tempted her to both question God’s word and desire to be in God’s place—a desire which was his own downfall. It is this prideful attitude which leads us to give into temptation. We trust in our own wisdom so much that we conclude “God didn’t really mean it when He said ________.”

The one area where we need have no self-control is our relationship with Christ. We can never be too deeply committed to Jesus or too much controlled by His perfect power. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:13-15, “For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.” The love of Christ overwhelms us, tears down our defenses, and controls our every action. Surrender to the Father can never be overdone.

The amazing thing about surrender to Christ is that it enables us to resist the devil’s temptations. When we wave our white flag toward the Lord, He provides us with such power that we need never wave our white flag toward the world. Paul writes, “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:12.13). Notice the phrase “allow you to be tempted.” We know that God never tempts anyone, yet He is still in control, and with the Spirit we have the power to defeat the temptations He allows in our lives.

We must always be ready to resist the devil. When Jesus is praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, He returns to find the disciples asleep. He says to Peter, “‘So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour? Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak’” (Matthew 26:40-41). Just because we have the Spirit living within us does not mean we can allow ourselves to be vulnerable to temptation. We must keep our gaze on the Lord, be true to His holy word, and pray for the strength to never deny Him. In the words of John Owen, “Be killing sin, or sin will be killing you.” Don’t place anything before Jesus. Count all else as rubbish to gain Christ—He is always worth it.