Saturday, February 07, 2009

SELF-CONTROL is Love Working

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"The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control" (Galatians 5:22).

Ed Cole wrote, "Maturity does not come with age; it begins with the acceptance of responsibility."

Down through the centuries people of every culture and age have discovered that the work of grace in the human spirit not only liberates us from the overwhelming power of sin, but also restores us to the power of personal choice and self-control.

We have no need of external pressures and policies to govern our conduct, for the Lord has written His Law within our very hearts, and filled us with His Holy Spirit -- empowering us to know and to do what is right and good and true.

God's grace at work in us shows us "how to turn our backs on a godless, indulgent life, and how to take on a God-filled, God-honoring life" (Titus 2:12, The Message).

The Old King James uses the word temperance, which means "the strength of self-control." It speaks to the virtue of that man or woman who masters their desires and passions by yielding to the inward influence of the Holy Spirit.

SELF-CONTROL is Love working in us, especially in a day when everything around us is spinning out of control.

Is this not the beauty and mystery of our friendship with Jesus? He empowers us to behave ourselves, and to become the men and women He has called us to be. And as we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word we mature into "lives of temperance, dignity, and wisdom, into healthy faith, love, and endurance" (Titus 2:2, The Message).

Isn't that the life you've wanted all along!

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