“His divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Thus he has given us, through these things, his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of lust, and may become participants in the divine nature.

“For this very reason, you must make every effort to support your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with godliness, and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love. For if these things are your and are increasing among you, they keep you from being ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:5-8)

The word egkrateia – self-control occurs four times in the New Testament.

• In Galatians 5:22-23 in listing of the fruit of the Spirit
• In Acts 24:25 that we looked at yesterday
• And twice in our text above

The Greek word for self-control means mastery, self-control, self-mastery, self-restraint.

Self-control comes into play when everything in our fiber wants to do something and every counsel in scripture tells us not to. That’s when self-control, self-mastery, self-restraint matters.

Here’s the thing about self-control. The word itself in English gives the impression that it is the self that does the self-controlling. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

The key to self-control does not lie in ourselves. We don’t have the power or the ability. That’s why we struggle so much. Left to ourselves, we are going to do what we think is right in our own eyes and what feels right to us.

The key to self-control is in surrendering. The key to self-control, self-mastery, self-restraint is in surrendering to the presence, rule, and guidance of Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. When we surrender, that’s when we exercise self-control, self-mastery, self-restraint. And when we surrender, it is Christ and his power which enables us to exercise self-control.

Scriptures tell us, “For the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).

Christ is our strength. Christ is our hope. Christ is our power.

Practice surrender.

“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!