I was embarrassed over my defensive reaction and loss of self-control. What just happened? I was stunned by my reaction. Taking a personal time-out after being disrupted over very little with a co-worker in Christ, I retreated into a nearby restroom.
It appeared like I stormed off. In solitude, I took a moment to breathe and pray and then... didn't want to return to the group I abandoned moments before. I became aware the Lord was walking with me through another journey into personal holiness with His emphasis on self-control.
Preparing for Lucknow and Chennai
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| Lucknow noted and Chennai on the SE coast |
God's university in self-control and holiness will be taken to another level with a Prisoners for Christ team from February 16-March 1 to Lucknow and Chennai, India short-term global encounter missions trip. My financial support is nearly all in and I am making preparations for the trip.
I will be overseeing the finances using Excel for the trip shadowed by President Greg Von Tobel, as part of my servant-leadership team training.
Greg also asked me to encourage one of our team in his support-raising. I am taking steps toward increasing my own ongoing monthly support-raising. Lessons I deliver for my global encounter India co-worker directly apply to my self-control to be active in these things.
Relearning self-control
When I was a middle school teacher, we often talked about helping students work through failures in impulse control. These lessons needed reteaching because previous teaching needed improvement or the learners were not mastering the concepts. The teaching and learning connection lights were not on.
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| Helped out of a slough of weak self-control |
In my ongoing journey, how am I pursuing holiness on a daily basis? Is real holiness or even progress in holiness possible? Do I get discouraged by my fores into John Bunyan's "slough of desponds," so I functionally give up?
Sloughs are hard places of discouragement involving traipsing through mucky stuff often involving folks we care a lot about. Getting back to the Lord's right path may be just feet and moments away. It feels like I can't get where I am supposed to be without help from others.
The basis for an ongoing foray in victory is our assured position in Jesus Christ. As believers, we are "in Christ." In Gregory Frizzell's powerful book, "Returning to holiness--a personal and church-wide journey to revival," he writes on this vital understanding. We are saved by Christ not just to take us to heaven but to indwell and empower His children in His Kingdom here on earth, in our daily journey. The same God that spoke John 3:16 also spoke Romans 6--
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." ~John 3:16 ESV
"We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin."
~Romans 6:6 ESV
"For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace." ~Romans 6:14 ESV
"In fact, these verses can become your personal declaration of independence over the power and dominion of sin. When Christ died for your sins, He not only removed the penalty of sin but also the power. By the Holy Spirit, this same risen Christ now indwells every saved person.
"The Christian life is not you trying to grit your teeth and somehow live for Him, it's learning to let Him live through you! We do this through a moment by moment faith in His indwelling life and power," the author concluded.
Gaining self-control in the Spirit
In my disruption, I experienced a breakdown in self-control. This was an impulse control struggle and recovery. Thank Him for recoveries and gracious people. The Lord gave me peace to go right back to my team and carry-on. Later, I sought forgiveness from the one I sinned against.
Paul preached to Felix and his wife Drusilla, openly living together in an adulterous relationship, in Acts 24:25 "on righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come." Felix was guilty and didn't want to hear it. Paul also listed self-control as a fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23. Peter encourages adding self-control to knowledge in 2 Peter 1:6.
Self-control is a work of the Holy Spirit. It is a God-given strength over my flesh and attacks of the adversary. I don't do what my body tells me to do if it negatively impacts the reputation of our Lord, others around us, and us. My flesh is not in control, reigning, or a master over us in Christ. We are not powerless over the flesh because we are in Christ Jesus and His Spirit indwells us. The Greek word for self-control maintains getting a grip on one's self and one's passions. In the Spirit, I protect myself with His power.
In Proverbs, Solomon pictured self-control:
"Like a city that is broken into and without walls Is a man who has no control over his spirit." ~Proverbs 25-28
City states were walled for protection from marauders. No wall meant no protection. No self control by analogy means one is wide open to attack from marauders in the flesh, world, and the devil. People lacking self-control are easy victims when attacked by strong desires and impulses.
Here are some awesome quotes on self-control to close:
- It is impossible to be a follower of Jesus without giving diligent attention in our lives to the grace of self-control. There is a form of self-control that says 'yes' to what we should do as well as that which says 'no' to what we shouldn't do. ~Jerry Bridges
- The beginning of self-mastery is to be mastered by Christ, to yield to his lordship. True spiritual self-discipline holds believers in bounds but never in bonds; its effect is to enlarge, expand and liberate. ~D. G. Kehl
- The man who disciplines himself stands out and has the mark of greatness upon him. ~D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
