Day 20 of 21 Day Prayer Challenge

Day 20: SELF CONTROL
​

Self-control is the ability to restrain or limit oneself. It has to do with the ability to say “no” to our desires. So often, we have desires that are good; however, we long to fulfill those desires in the wrong way. That is a simple definition of sin— filling a legitimate need through an illegitimate means.

Since self-control is one of the fruits of the Spirit, it is something that God desires to produce in each of us. I believe that one of the proofs that God is working in our lives is the ability to control our thoughts, words, and actions. We need the Holy Spirit to show us the best way to meet our needs. Even if we know what is best, and even if we know what we need to do, without the Holy Spirit teaching us self-control, we can fall back into sin again and again. Without self-control, we will continually fall into the things that pull us further and further away from God.

The great thing is that self-control naturally leads to perseverance and the ability to abstain from instant gratification. Self-control is a gift that frees us. It might seem backwards to say that self-control is a gift that frees us. However, it frees us from a guilty conscience, and it keeps us from falling into our foolish desires. Self-control enables us to love and live as we were meant to.

Philippians 2:13
“For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

Romans 6:6
“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.”

Galatians 5:1
“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”

Romans 7:21–25
“So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.”

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, help me to see where I need more self-control. In our world where desires take over, may the Holy Spirit produce self-control in me. Help me to say no to the things that do not matter most. Amen. 

​