I was sitting here thinking about self-control and how i have very little. most of my life reminds of this fact everyday.
- when i can't find something because i didn't put it away...
- when all of my dishes are dirty and i'm cooking dinner...
- when i don't want someone to come into my apartment because it's dirty...
- when my desk at work is unorganized because i didn't put things in their proper place...
It all comes down to self-control.
I have not an ounce in me. I was literally born with a self-control deficiency. Couple that with discipline and you have me in a nutshell.
So I was listening to this sermon about spiritual warfare, Satan, etc and it just hit me that one of the fruits of the Spirit is self-control. CRA-ZAY how my thoughts are all coming together on God and just life in general.
So the fruits of the Spirit are: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
When you become a Christian, you're told about the Holy Spirit being your helper and all of that - even that you should be exhibiting this behavior. But you are not told that you will naturally start to exhibit these qualities and now I'm thinking that that is what happens.
When you accept the truth about Jesus and God - you will receive the Holy Spirit who nudges you towards these things. He has a much larger role than what I'm about to describe but this is a facet of it as well. He becomes that still voice that tells you to calm down, go running, makes you question if eating chicken fingers everyday is good for your body (self-control). He reminds you that God's grace is sufficient (faithfulness). He helps you see that the storm doesn't last forever (longsuffering). He reminds you to care for those less fortunate (love) and that everyone deserves a basic level of respect despite their social station (kindness). So on and so forth - these are the best examples but I think you're picking up what I'm putting down. You begin to act in accordance with these things because he convicts you and lets you know what to do - and eventually, you don't need the nudge on those things anymore and He moves to deeper lessons.
Self-control is one area that He has been shining the light for me. When I eat, He reminds me to eat for fuel. When I'm sitting in my dirty apartment, He reminds me that God is not the author of chaos and my life, apartment, appearance - should all reflect that. And the thing that I love is that I don't have to come to Him with these things in place already. This comes naturally when you come to Him because he prods you and gently nudges you until it becomes apart of your character.
And that was my childlike lesson for the day. Maybe one day I'll move on to deeper spiritual things...
