This week we've been talking about the fruit of the Spirit.
About how we get more love, more joy, more peace.
And today I want to talk to you about one of the most important fruit of them all.
Self-control.
Think of it.
Self-control is the difference between a path of happiness
and one of destruction.
The difference between sobriety and addiction
is self-control.
The difference between a person who is
up to their neck and worse in financial debt
and someone who said no to impulse purchases
and has a nest-egg of savings.
Is self-control.
The relationship with plenty of selflessness and service
compared to one that's been corrupted and
gotten toxic by selfishness and sin.
That's self-control.
When we have the spiritual power to say no to something bad for us,
so we can say yes to God.
That's self-control.
And if you're anything like me, you'd love to have
more self-control.
If you could feel that temptation
and still say no to it, life would be so much different
as you obey God.
So, the question today is,
"How do you get self-control?"
If the Bible passage says, "The fruit of the Spirit is self-control"
what root
will produce that fruit in your life?
Well, today I brought the answer with me.
I brought
the Ten Commandments.
These aren't the original ones, by the way.
It's actually wood that my friend, Tom, put some original Hebrew on.
But this is the Hebrew of the Ten Commandments.
And if you think about it, the Ten Commandments require
massive amounts of self-control.
If you aren't going to worship any other god.
If you're not going to lie or gossip about your neighbor.
If you're not going to commit adultery.
If you're going to honor your father and mother
despite their imperfections.
It's going to take a ton of self-control.
So, how do you get it?
Here's my answer.
In the original Hebrew, right here,
is the First Commandment.
You shall have no other Gods.
Which kind of makes you wonder,
"Well, what's this?"
If this is where the Ten Commandments start,
what did God say before that?
Well, what he said before that
was the key to self-control.
I would say to you that this root
produces this fruit.
Let me translate for you.
It says, "And God spoke all of these words saying,
I am the Lord your God.
The one who brought you up out of the land of Egypt,
out of the house of slavery."
God knew that before he could give people these rules,
he had to tell them about this relationship.
I'm your God.
Before he would tell them to do this and don't do that,
he reminded them of the things already done on their behalf.
I rescued you.
I saved you.
In other words, God knew that if his people
would have the self-control to say no to sin,
they would have to first know how much they were loved.
Which is exactly what the Apostle Paul said.
In the book of Titus, chapter 2, he said this,
What teaches you or motivates you
or enables you to say no to worldly passions
and be self-controlled?
It.
The grace of God.
You see, when you put your roots
into love that you don't deserve.
When you've messed up in a thousand ways
and didn't have self-control.
But there's Jesus.
And he's waiting with love.
His cross offers forgiveness for the moments we wish we could take back.
When you think that you've blown it with God
and he's run out of patience with you.
And yet there's still grace on top of grace.
And mercy that's new every morning.
And faithfulness that doesn't fail you.
That has a way of changing your heart.
It makes you love God so much
and love sin so much less.
So, if you're struggling with self-control,
the best advice and encouragement I can give you
is to stay rooted in grace.
Go to a church that reminds you of grace every week.
Open your Bible and read about God's grace on every page.
In your prayers, don't just
ask God for help with the things that you need to do.
But thank him for the grace that's already been given
and the things that have already been done.
Because that
teaches you to say no
and to live a self-controlled life.
So, brothers, sisters, if you want fruit,
get root.
If you want self-control,
remember that through Jesus,
you already are saved.
Let's pray.
Dear God, self-control would help us so much today.
And we really need your help.
Temptation is tempting and the devil knows what works best with us.
So, we pray for your Spirit to open our eyes
to see how incredible your unfailing love is.
Let our hearts, even after all these years, be shocked,
to be surprised
and to be emotionally moved by your grace.
Because we know, God, that that can teach us to live a different life.
We pray this for your glory
and for our good.
And we ask it in Jesus' name.
Amen.
There's so much more to say when it comes to having good, spiritual roots.
Which is why, if you want to grow,
if you really want more fruit in your life,
I'd encourage you to check out timeofgrace.org.
And just type the word "roots" into the search bar.
You're going to find longer, full-length messages
and some really great resources to help you
have great roots in Jesus
so that the Holy Spirit can produce more fruit in you.
Thanks for watching these videos this week and we'll catch you next time.