Self-Control: I suck at it...now what?

Yesterday, Pastor Steve completed talking about the fruits of the spirit (a series that I like to call, YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE FRUIT!) teaching about self-control. It was so eye-opening to me. It wasn’t just a sermon…he showed us in the Word HOW to have self-control, he didn’t just speak the scripture and say, “just have it.” 

Kind of like when someone says something like, “give it to God,” and I’m screaming, “OK, BUT HOWWWWWWWWW? WHAT I NEED TO GIVE ISN’T TANGIBLE AND WHO I NEED TO GIVE IT TO ISN’T HUMAN.” 

I digress…

Instead of making it all pretty and flow, I’m just going to type out the notes I took and you can read them and think about them. 

*Self-control isn’t an issue of will power, it’s an issue of faith. The only way to fight the cravings we have (referring to addiction of any kind…TV, alcohol, pornography, food, money, work, etc.) is to fight the good fight of faith (see 1 Timothy 6:13)

*God is glorified IN your struggle as you struggle THROUGH it. 

*I found it especially cool that Colossians 1:29 says that, “For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.” Pastor Steve emphasized, WITH ALL HIS ENERGY. We struggle…but we have HIS energy. 

*You cannot defeat an addiction with a great moral code.
You know “you shouldn’t,” and then you do.
You promise “you’ll do better,” and then you don’t.
You say, “I’ll never do that again,” and you mean it, but you do it again. 

*You cannot overcome addiction with self-loathing.
You cannot overcome addiction with promises to those who love you.
You cannot overcome addiction with a renewed commitment to church and bible reading (although this is good). 

*So, how DO you overcome it/them? The only way to overcome a pleasure is to introduce a superior pleasure. 

Which is God, Himself. It’s why the Word says “taste and see that the Lord is good (see Psalm 34:8).

*Titus 2:11 says, “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…” So we are being trained to refuse or deny what the world offers and realize that the greater pleasure being offered to us is God Himself, and the hope we have in heaven. I need to start praying to TASTE that. 

*Like verse 14, I need to pray to be a person who is “zealous for good works.” To be a woman who eagerly desires to do good deeds, not be consumed by worldly passions (like TV, alcohol, pornography, food, any form of lust, being filled with envy, money, work, etc). 

*We are to fight the good fight of faith and seek God for pleasure in Christ. 

*If God loves me (and He does), then He’ll give me what is best for me. That’s God Himself. He is the treasure. He could give me everything I want, but it would mean nothing without Him. 

The following are my own thoughts at the end of the sermon: 

I don’t know how to open up my heart to God, really; to taste and see. I don’t know HOW to see His superior pleasure or enjoy it. 

I get hints of it, but I have a hard time LIVING in it. Intimacy in my relationships with people is a big issue for me (i suck at it) so of course that transfers to my relationship with God. I’ve gotten better though over the past 6 years or so. Slow but steady progress, so I’ll just keep going. I know now not to feel guilty for being this way and just keep learning. 

Example: I know how to wallow in the shadow of my sin at God’s feet, but I’m not so good at the dancing freely in His presence thing. Or letting Him slow dance me around for the pleasure of being with Him and being held. That tends to make me feel “icky” which may sound weird. I don’t know why I feel that way, but it’s ok because He’ll show me things in the awkwardness. 

This sermon gave me so much to think about. Thoughts? Whether you were there or not.