Episode #393 Self-Control Isn’t a Willpower Problem – Fruit That Grows in Freedom

Hey, friend. If self-control just came from trying harder, most of us would have mastered it by now. But the truth is that our self-control can be powered by God's Spirit, not just powered by us. See, self-control is also part of the fruit of God's Spirit. It's what His Spirit produces in us as we live in life with Him. And the Spirit produces what our own striving cannot. I know you've experienced this. If you've ever tried to overcome an area of sin just by your own willpower. Or if you've tried to grow in an area of spiritual discipline and have fallen short. Or if you've ever snoozed your alarm to blow past your morning prayer time.

We have these good desires, but we need God's Spirit to empower our self-control. Now, this doesn't mean we just sit back and we're like, "Ah, if God wants me to have self-control, He'll just control it all for me." No, we have a part to play ourselves in partnership with God. But it's not just fueled by our own effort.

I wanna read for us Titus 2:11-12, and it says, "For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It, the grace of God, teaches us to say ‘no’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age.”

And so in His grace, God teaches us our part. Our part to say “no” to ungodliness, to say “no” to worldly passions, and to say “yes” to living self-controlled, upright, and godly lives. But this instruction comes by the grace of God to us, and it comes empowered by God's Spirit too.

In Romans 8:13, it says, "For if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.”

It's not according to our own natural strength, our own innate abilities, or our humanity that we put to death the misdeeds of the body. It's by God's Spirit that we're able to do this.

And the self-control we're talking about here is Spirit-empowered alignment of our desires and our will and our actions. We get to yield those to God and to live in agreement with the truth of who God is and who He says that we are. We get to yield our desires and our will and our actions to Him and have Him transform them. And the beautiful thing about this is that this empowered work accomplishes what we cannot do on our own.

Where I see so many people struggling with this is a place that I used to struggle with this too. I thought that as a believer who had received salvation, I now ought to be able to do all of these things and live with self-control by my own ability.

That's not what Scripture tells us.

And so if you find yourself in that type of struggle today, I want to encourage you. The Spirit produces what striving cannot. God does not expect you or even want you to try and accomplish these things on your own. He's inviting you to live more in step with His Spirit, to receive more of the flourishing that His Spirit produces in you.

And so here's a question that you can take to Him today:

God, where's an area of my life where I lack self-control, and what do you want to empower me to walk in instead by your Spirit?

Have a good talk.

And if you've been encouraged by this content, please share it with a friend and help them grow in their conversational relationship with God too!

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