When we come to Christ and receive Him for who He is into our life, He changes us. The Holy Spirit comes and resides in us and begins to change us from the inside out. He begins to change our heart as we place our trust in God. One thing he gives self-control.
The Lack of Self-control
Self-control is greatly needed in our entertainment and screen-oriented world today. Self-control is what the apostle Paul mentions in the verse in 2 Timothy 1:7.
for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
1 Timothy 1:7
Paul is writing the words of Scripture born along by the Holy Spirit (i.e. words of truth). And he says to his apprentice, Timothy, that he must not fear but have self-control. When the Bible talks about self-control it means we now have the ability to do what the Holy Spirit wants us to do and not what sin wants us to do. Sin often feels good at first, but in the long run it damages and destroys people. The problem being is that we can get caught in sin and even addicted to it. Our only hope against the pull and enticement of destructive sin is the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit can break the power of destructive sin in our lives. But we must avail ourself of its power. It’s like a gift which is put under the Christmas tree with your name on it. But if you never actually unwrap the gift and utilize it then its effectiveness is null and void. It’s the same with the gift of the Holy Spirit. When you decide that you are going to follow Christ and you become a Christian the Holy Spirit comes and indwells you. This is the promise of Scripture:
And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,
ephesians 1:13
Self-control comes into our life as, by the power of the Holy Spirit within us, we learn to submit to God and flee from the devil. That’s what the Bible says:
6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:
“God opposes the proud
but shows favour to the humble.”7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
James 4:6-8
What to do
If you would like to break the continual destructive forces of sin then the only way to do that is admit to God that you are a sinner and have offended him by your actions and turn from your sin and ask God’s forgiveness for your sins. Ask Him to be the king of your life allowing him to control it. The best way to do that is through prayer to God. God shows favour and grace to those who are humble and recognize that they need Him.
Our job in all of this is that we must submit to God and draw near to Him (James 4:6-8). Part of submitting and drawing near to God involves joining a church, reading the Bible, meditating on the words of Scripture (e.g. the Psalms), prayer and fellowship with other believers among other things.
When one takes this step of faith and turns to God you can be sure that your sins are forgiven and that the Holy Spirit now lives in you. The Holy Spirit which now lives in you which teach you to submit to God’s ways in this life and to shed your old lifestyle that was selfish, self-centered and even self-destructive. Our job in all of this is that we must submit to God and draw near to Him (James 4:6-8). Part of submitting and drawing near to God involves joining a church, reading the Bible, meditating on the words of Scripture (e.g. the Psalms), prayer and fellowship with other believers. Along with this we must also resist the devil’s schemes and the evil he tries to inject into our lives. This may mean ridding ourselves of behaviours, attitudes and actions and habits that are not pleasing to God. We must, with God’s help, remove the footholds and pathways that Satan uses to get a foothold of sin in our life. Some people may think this is oppressive but the real oppression is the evil by which the devil oppresses us – pornography habits, addictive behaviour, lying, deceving, putting others down, being selfish and greedy, idolizing money and power amongst other false ideologies which our society would have us believe is freedom. But actually freedom is the power to resist all the sinful ways our world presents to us and rather to follow God’s way! This is true freedom! After all the Bible reminds us in the opening chapters of Genesis that we were created in God’s image and so it is His way we must follow.
So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
– Genesis 1:27