Growing in Self-Control

 

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. (Titus 2:11-14 ESV).

 

Self-control is certainly a virtue worth exploring. If you have been following Morning Devotionals recently you know Mary and I have recently returned from the Smokies. The cabin we stayed in was very near a Krispy Kreme donut store. The nearly impossible task of driving by without stopping for a dozen donuts when the red sign was lit was certainly more of a challenge than we could resist. Of course, our favorite donut establishment is the Donut Friar in the Village at Gatlinburg, but fresh, warm donuts from Krispy Kreme are a close second. And my sweet tooth often wins that battle!

 

Well, the Scripture has a lot to say about self-control. In our reading today self-control literally means “having a sound mind, or being reasonable.” It is basically the opposite of living in confusion, ignorance, or indifference about making choices that support healthy living.

 

God’s grace saves us from ungodliness (literally, “an unworshipful life”) and from being a slave to the world’s ideas of what we need or want. We are not born with the ability to just say “no”—at least not on a regular basis and not without something else to say “yes” to. If we are without God in our life, all of our “yes’s” are basically guesswork. Our guesses sometimes make things worse, and sometimes a little better—but without God we cannot find the path to full life.

 

In his grace, however, God has already said “yes” to something else for us. Through the work of Jesus, God has said “yes” to our redemption, giving us a whole new way of life. And because of this, God can now train us to say “yes” to better choices in our everyday living. That’s self-control. Self-control is the God-trained ability to understand and choose which options bring us closer to being our best selves. Choose self-control in every area of your life today!