Galatians 5:22-24: Self-control

Galatians 5:22-24.. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."

Self-control is a command in scripture that I think we too often overlook. To be self-controlled is, quite literally, to "control oneself." That is, to control one's passions and desires and to not let them rule over him. To be self-controlled is to realize that you have sinful passions and temptations, but to be in control over them (instead of them being in control over you).

Notice: self-control is a fruit of the Spirit. What does that mean? It means that you need God to help you obtain it. Self-control is not something that you can do by yourself, so stop trying. Self-control is something that we obtain only by walking by the Spirit (Galatians 5:16).

Note verse 24: "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." Ultimately, the Christian walk is all about becoming who you already are. That is to say that God has already made us righteous (positionally) and made us a son of him (positionally), but now in our sanctification we much live out righoueousness (that is, practially) and obedience in sonship (practically). This is what Paul's point is here in verse 24. Our sin has already been crucified. Our lack of self-control was nailed to across. However, we must strive to live according to that reality, and not fall back into the sin that has been killed through Christ.

So, how's your self-control? How can you cling to the promise that Christ has set you free from sin in order to be more self-controlled? How can you walk in the Spirit and set your mind on the Spirit, that you might not gratify the desire of the flesh to not be self-controlled?