But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, SELF-CONTROL. Against such there is no law. (Galatians 5:22, 23, NKJV).
Personal Responsibility: Yes We Can!
Is alcoholism a disease? How about drug addiction? In my wasted youth when I drank like a fish and did just about any drugs I could get my hands on, I was overjoyed to hear that some "experts" thought so. It gave me the best excuse I could ever imagine: "It's not my fault! I'm sick!" Perfect! I viewed it as a license to indulge.
Later on, as a "responsible adult", but before I became a Christian, I suspended those behaviors because I thought they were killing me and I was afraid to die. I still considered them diseases though, and for a time ignored the fact that I had somehow managed to treat myself. I had swallowed the popular wisdom that I was afflicted with an incurable disease until I questioned the glaring disconnect of my apparent spontaneous remission. My educated friends were indignant at my Neanderthalic illusion of self-control, and aghast that I even dared to question the accepted truth. They told me my supposed cure was delusional. After fruitless argument, I dropped the whole discussion because it made me want to go out and get a drink.
As a Christian informed about life by the inerrant, infallible Word of God, I have since come to know and believe that the world has no idea what it's talking about. Alcoholism and drug abuse are sins, pure and simple. I'm not saying these are not difficult to give up, or are not painful and destructive, or that drinkers and drug-users should be scorned and denied compassion. If I were saying that about drunks, I'd be saying the same thing about thieves and liars and everyone else in the world because we are all afflicted with sin, and Christ died to procure pardon for all of us. What I am saying is that the propaganda that these bad habits are incurable diseases is not helpful. While that equation may have been motivated initially by an outward desire for good, the real result is evil. Why? Because it relieves the sinner of personal responsibility and renders them helpless; like throwing a drowning man a mill stone instead of a life preserver.
The world, of course, has a vested interest in denying the existence of sin. It's an ongoing battle in the long war against God. Part of the strategy is to marginalize anyone who even talks about sin as being an ignorant bigoted dolt without human decency or education. Christians should not be surprised by this tactic. As far back as the New Testament, in anticipation of the continuous moral decline of the world into obvious spiritual blindness, the Apostle Paul warned in Romans Chapter 1 that there are those, "who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them." (Romans 1:32, NKJV). That these people are now in a position to consider themselves arbiters of popular wisdom and political correctness is no shock either. They are perfect tools; useful idiots. They advance this ridiculous stratagem: no sin means no judgment and no God. Good luck with that one. You'll need it, particularly at the end of you life.
Self-control as a fruit of the Spirit enters into this discussion in that it enables us to accomplish three vitally important things in the Christian walk. The first is it gives us power over sin. Not that we are in any way sinless, but we as Christians have the option NOT to sin. We are set free from the penalty of sin and the propensity to sin. Through His Spirit within us we can have what Christians call victory over sin. I know people, and know OF many more people, who, through faith in Christ, have turned their lives completely around. Many headed toward inevitable self-destruction and severe damage to those around them have become more than conquerors. Where before they were slaves of alcohol, or drugs, or sex, or other lusts of the flesh, they are now no longer captives. In many cases, though not all, this entailed little or no effort on their part to put aside their most besetting sin. It just happened, a gift of God.
In addition to the power not to sin, Spirit-led self-control gives believers the necessary groundwork to manifest the other aspects of the fruit of the Spirit: longsuffering, kindness, goodness and gentleness, especially in the face of provocation to do otherwise. This is true because that kind of self-control is not merely an act of will, which can falter with lack of sleep or bad digestion or stress, but it is supernatural, coming from God Himself. It is what enable us to face life with the peace that surpasses understanding, and to rejoice in trials because more than just our minds and emotions are at the wheel.
And finally, it makes us virtually immune to manipulation from others. Why? For the simple and profound reason that external provocation need not penetrate our God-given defenses. When reviled, we need not revile in return. When offended, we need not take offense. When unfairly treated, we can give our cause over to a good and faithful Creator, knowing that God is our rearguard, and promises to fight our battles and vindicate us in the end.
Do not overlook the power of these life-principles. Imagine, if you will a life lived mostly on these terms: free from the slavery of sin with the liberty NOT to sin; empowered to be truly kind and good and gentle even under duress; and immune to manipulation.
A real-life superhero.
Personal Responsibility: Yes We Can!
Is alcoholism a disease? How about drug addiction? In my wasted youth when I drank like a fish and did just about any drugs I could get my hands on, I was overjoyed to hear that some "experts" thought so. It gave me the best excuse I could ever imagine: "It's not my fault! I'm sick!" Perfect! I viewed it as a license to indulge.
Later on, as a "responsible adult", but before I became a Christian, I suspended those behaviors because I thought they were killing me and I was afraid to die. I still considered them diseases though, and for a time ignored the fact that I had somehow managed to treat myself. I had swallowed the popular wisdom that I was afflicted with an incurable disease until I questioned the glaring disconnect of my apparent spontaneous remission. My educated friends were indignant at my Neanderthalic illusion of self-control, and aghast that I even dared to question the accepted truth. They told me my supposed cure was delusional. After fruitless argument, I dropped the whole discussion because it made me want to go out and get a drink.
As a Christian informed about life by the inerrant, infallible Word of God, I have since come to know and believe that the world has no idea what it's talking about. Alcoholism and drug abuse are sins, pure and simple. I'm not saying these are not difficult to give up, or are not painful and destructive, or that drinkers and drug-users should be scorned and denied compassion. If I were saying that about drunks, I'd be saying the same thing about thieves and liars and everyone else in the world because we are all afflicted with sin, and Christ died to procure pardon for all of us. What I am saying is that the propaganda that these bad habits are incurable diseases is not helpful. While that equation may have been motivated initially by an outward desire for good, the real result is evil. Why? Because it relieves the sinner of personal responsibility and renders them helpless; like throwing a drowning man a mill stone instead of a life preserver.
The world, of course, has a vested interest in denying the existence of sin. It's an ongoing battle in the long war against God. Part of the strategy is to marginalize anyone who even talks about sin as being an ignorant bigoted dolt without human decency or education. Christians should not be surprised by this tactic. As far back as the New Testament, in anticipation of the continuous moral decline of the world into obvious spiritual blindness, the Apostle Paul warned in Romans Chapter 1 that there are those, "who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them." (Romans 1:32, NKJV). That these people are now in a position to consider themselves arbiters of popular wisdom and political correctness is no shock either. They are perfect tools; useful idiots. They advance this ridiculous stratagem: no sin means no judgment and no God. Good luck with that one. You'll need it, particularly at the end of you life.
Self-control as a fruit of the Spirit enters into this discussion in that it enables us to accomplish three vitally important things in the Christian walk. The first is it gives us power over sin. Not that we are in any way sinless, but we as Christians have the option NOT to sin. We are set free from the penalty of sin and the propensity to sin. Through His Spirit within us we can have what Christians call victory over sin. I know people, and know OF many more people, who, through faith in Christ, have turned their lives completely around. Many headed toward inevitable self-destruction and severe damage to those around them have become more than conquerors. Where before they were slaves of alcohol, or drugs, or sex, or other lusts of the flesh, they are now no longer captives. In many cases, though not all, this entailed little or no effort on their part to put aside their most besetting sin. It just happened, a gift of God.
In addition to the power not to sin, Spirit-led self-control gives believers the necessary groundwork to manifest the other aspects of the fruit of the Spirit: longsuffering, kindness, goodness and gentleness, especially in the face of provocation to do otherwise. This is true because that kind of self-control is not merely an act of will, which can falter with lack of sleep or bad digestion or stress, but it is supernatural, coming from God Himself. It is what enable us to face life with the peace that surpasses understanding, and to rejoice in trials because more than just our minds and emotions are at the wheel.
And finally, it makes us virtually immune to manipulation from others. Why? For the simple and profound reason that external provocation need not penetrate our God-given defenses. When reviled, we need not revile in return. When offended, we need not take offense. When unfairly treated, we can give our cause over to a good and faithful Creator, knowing that God is our rearguard, and promises to fight our battles and vindicate us in the end.
Do not overlook the power of these life-principles. Imagine, if you will a life lived mostly on these terms: free from the slavery of sin with the liberty NOT to sin; empowered to be truly kind and good and gentle even under duress; and immune to manipulation.
A real-life superhero.
