“Some days later when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him speak concerning faith in Christ Jesus. And as he discussed justice, self-control, and the coming judgment, Felix became frightened and said, ‘Go away for the present; when I have an opportunity, I will send for you.’ At the same time he hoped that money would be given to him by Paul, and for that reason he used to send for him very often and converse with him” (Acts 24:24-26).

This is an account of one of the many times the Apostle Paul ran into trouble because of false and made up accusations of the Jews against him.

Paul was someone who had earned the stripes to speak about self-control. He had been falsely accused and wrongfully incarcerated multiple times.

The amount of this particular incarceration isn’t clear, but it was at least two years long. We are told in verse 27, “After two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus; and since he wanted to grant the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison.” 

I have no idea how Paul endured such treatment…for over two years!!!

Paul had mastered self-control, self-restraint, and self-mastery.

When I first visited South Africa in 1988, Nelson Mandela had been incarcerated at Robben Island for 26 years. He would spend a total of 27 years in prison before his release. What many didn’t know about Mr. Mandela was that he was a Christian. He was raised in the Methodist church by parents who were strong believers.

How does one survive such treatment without turning dark, angry, and hateful?

Both men knew a Savior who reminded them that there was more to life than what we experience here on earth. In fact, we were foreigners and aliens who are merely passing through. Knowing Christ and knowing that we were created for eternity gave these men the perspective they needed to interpret present sufferings in light of eternity.

Not only did these men survive, but came out of imprisonment more able to serve God and God’s people than before.

That is my prayer and expectation for our season of transition. I pray that when we are able to meet together in person again, we are more able to serve God and God’s people than before covid-19.

One of the key aspects of this growth? Self-control. I know I need to work on this.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23).

We come to the ninth characteristic listed for as a fruit of the Spirit: self-control.

A quick reminder:

• There are not nine fruits of the Spirit. The fruit in the Greek is singular
• These nine characteristics are not a complete nor a closed set of characteristics
• The idea is that qualities and virtues like these are what happens – are the fruit – of the Spirit of God alive in us

None of these qualities or virtues originate with us. They are the results of the Holy Spirit at work in us. We experience these things as recipients. God first loves us, gives us joy, peace, patience, kindness, etc., and having received God’s love and Spirit in such a way, we then become able to share those same qualities and virtues with others. These Spiritual qualities and virtues do not originate with us nor can they be generated by us. They are received qualities and virtues.

The word for the week is self-control. The Greek word for self-control is egkrateia. The word literally means mastery, self-control, self-mastery, self-restraint. Like all the other qualities, self-control can only be accomplished by the power of the Lord through the Holy Spirit. That is why it is a fruit of the Spirit.

This word only occurs four times in the New Testament.

I am looking forward to seeing what God has to teach us about self-control throughout this week. Blessings!

“But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.

“But as for you, man of God, shun all this; pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness” (1 Timothy 6:9-11).

As a sojourner, as you travel to another country, you need to exchange some currency so you can function while you are sojourning. It would be ludicrous to exchange all your money and invest all your life savings into the currency where you are merely sojourning.

The scriptures tell us that our existence here on earth is like a journey. We are aliens and exiles in this life. We are residents of heaven. We are only sojourning through life. Our home is with God in heaven.

As sojourners, we need to exchange some of our investments so that we can function while living on this earth. However, it would be ludicrous to invest all we are and all we have for life on earth. Instead we are instructed to invest in a currency that operates in heaven.

What is the currency of heaven?

• Righteousness
• Godliness
• Faith
• Love
• Endurance
• Gentleness

These things are what we are to invest in. This is the only smart investment we can make if we are citizens of heaven. We are sojourners. It’s when we get confused to think that this world is all there is that we become trapped by many senseless and harmful desires.

Little Church and Lakewoodgrace, invest wisely!