When Self-Control is Out of Control

…for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. 2 Timothy 1:7

 

Where does it go? I have it one week and the next it is nowhere to be found.

Discipline.

I am not talking about teaching and training children. I am talking about self-control.

One week I will walk several times. I will eat well and answer my emails the same day I get them. It seems like the next three weeks won’t go so well. I don’t seem to look for time to walk or go to the gym. I leave anything that can wait, undone. I do what I feel like doing.

There it is. The things I “feel” like doing get done.

Discipline is not about our feelings.  Feelings are unreliable and are easily misapplied to our lives. One of the things we have to “control” in “self-control” is our feelings. When we push past the feeling of not wanting to do something, we move to the territory of accomplishment and satisfaction…and often, blessing.

When I have those weeks where it seems that little gets accomplished outside of the necessary and there is no discipline in my eating or exercise, I am usually miserable. I “feel” fat. I “feel” lazy. I “feel” out of shape. And, I “feel” like everyone else can see what a fat, lazy, slob I am. (sigh)

Why do I allow myself to get there? Where is the self-control I had last week?

In the book of Acts, when Paul had been in prison and Felix was governor, Acts 24:24-25 say, After some days Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, and he sent for Paul and heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus.  And as he reasoned about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment, Felix was alarmed and said, “Go away for the present. When I get an opportunity I will summon you.”

Righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment alarm Felix. He may have put all three together and understood that there is a relationship between righteousness and self-control that will make judgment much easier to bear. He may also have known there is truth in Paul’s words that he did not want to deal with at that moment.

I think this is what happens to my self-control. It is an issue of, “I don’t feel like dealing with whatever it is I don’t want to do” at the moment. (Does this sound familiar to anyone else?) In times when I am more aware of the blessings of obedience (when my thoughts are not just about my comfort or pleasure), then I am able to return to my disciplined life and accomplish something that I have allowed to slide.

It takes a movement of the Holy Spirit  to remind me that my life is not just about me.  God has work for me (and you) to do. If you and I are to accomplish the work God has for us, self-control is a necessary fruit to bear.

God is glorified when we demonstrate the fruits of the Spirit. Self-control is one of them.