Self-Control vs.
Self-Indulgence
Self-control is the power of
the Holy Spirit that results from
passing the tests of the Spirit.
S elf-control is
transforming desires to
please self into desires
Definition
The Biblical term for self-
control is temperance. The Greek
word for temperance is egkrateia
making to achieve it. “Now they
do it to obtain a corruptible crown;
but we an incorruptible. I there-
fore so run, not as uncertainly; so
fight I, not as one that beateth
from egkrates, which means “re- the air: But I keep under my
to please God. straining and controlling one’s body, and bring it into subjection:
self.” It is the virtue of one who lest that by any means, when I have
“And be not conformed to this
masters his desires and passions. preached to others, I myself should
world: but be ye transformed by the
Self-control is the inward strength be a castaway” (I Corinthians 9:25–27).
renewing of your mind, that ye may
to bring all physical appetites Any believer who desires to
prove what is that good, and accept-
under the control of the Holy be a leader in the church must
able, and perfect, will of God.”
Spirit. A word related to have self-control. “A bishop must
—Romans 12:2
egkrateia is egkrateuomai, which be blameless, as the steward of
describes the rigid self-discipline God; not selfwilled, not soon angry,
practiced by athletes who are not given to wine, no striker, not
intent on winning the prize. An- given to filthy lucre . . . temperate”
other Biblical word related to self- (Titus 1:7–8).
control is incontinency and, by Because of their age and
extension, continency, meaning experience, older men are looked
“to have power over oneself.” (See to for counsel and leadership;
I Corinthians 7:5 and II Timothy 3:3.) therefore, they also are to excel
in temperance. “Speak thou the
The Vital Importance things which become sound doc-
trine: That the aged men be sober,
T he success from
meditation includes the
of Self-Control
Self-control is essential for
any believer who wants to excel
grave, temperate, sound in faith,
in charity, in patience” (Titus 2:1–2).
secrets of self-control. in the Christian life and receive The Opposite
honor from the Lord. Paul used
“Meditate upon these things; the analogy of a runner in a race. of Self-Control
give thyself wholly to them; that thy “Know ye not that they which The Biblical antonym of
profiting may appear to all.” run in a race run all, but one re- egkrateia (temperate) is akrates. It
—I Timothy 4:15
ceiveth the prize? So run, that means “to be powerless, inconti-
ye may obtain. And every man nent, unable to withstand or resist
“Always do something you that striveth for the mastery is the desires and passions of human
don’t need to do for the temperate [egkrateuomai] in all appetite.” Paul describes this con-
sake of doing it—it keeps things” (I Corinthians 9:24–25). dition: “That which I do I allow
you in moral fighting trim.” Paul then emphasized the not: for what I would, that do I not;
—Oswald Chambers
eternal value of self-control and but what I hate, that do I. . . . For
the personal sacrifice he was the good that I would I do not:
160 Self-Control From The Power for True Success ©2001 by the Institute in Basic Life Principles • [Link]
but the evil which I would not, 3. Listening to God’s Spirit
that I do. . . . O wretched man Through the leading of
that I am! who shall deliver me God’s Spirit, Paul learned how to
from the body of this death?” conquer wrong desires. Paul
(Romans 7:15, 19, 24).
stated, “Therefore, brethren, we
are debtors, not to the flesh, to
How Did Paul De- live after the flesh. For if ye live
velop Self-Control? after the flesh, ye shall die: but if
ye through the Spirit do mortify
1. Joining God’s family
Paul’s first step to conquer
the powerful lusts of the flesh was
to enter in to the family of God
through faith in Jesus Christ. “There
the deeds of the body, ye shall
live” (Romans 8:12–13). The word
mortify is thanatoo. It means “to
put to death.”
The same instruction is given
S elf-control is respond-
ing to sin in the same way
a dead man does.
in Colossians [Link] “Mortify there-
is therefore now no condemnation
fore your members which are “How shall we, that are dead to sin,
to them which are in Christ Jesus,
upon the earth; fornication, un- live any longer therein? . . . Likewise
who walk not after the flesh, but
cleanness, inordinate affection, evil reckon ye also yourselves to be dead
after the Spirit” (Romans 8:1).
concupiscence, and covetousness, indeed unto sin, but alive unto God
When Paul became a believer,
which is idolatry.” The word mor- through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
he, like all believers, received the
tify in this verse is nekroo, which —Romans 6:2, 11
indwelling of the Holy Spirit. “For
means “to deaden, to subdue.”
as many as are led by the Spirit
Paul described his program
of God, they are the sons of God”
(Romans 8:14). Walking in obedi-
ence to the leading of God’s Spirit
produces self-control, because
of mortifying the flesh in I Corin-
thians [Link] “But I keep under my
body, and bring it into subjection:
F reedom from self
comes by being a slave to
lest that by any means, when I have righteousness.
self-control is the work of the Holy
preached to others, I myself should
Spirit. “The fruit of the Spirit is
be a castaway.” “Know ye not, that to whom ye
love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith, meek- The phrase keep under literally yield yourselves servants to obey, his
means “to beat black and blue, to servants ye are to whom ye obey;
ness, temperance” (Galatians 5:22–23).
smite so as to cause bruises and whether of sin unto death, or of obe-
2. Obeying the Holy Spirit livid spots, like a boxer who buf- dience unto righteousness?”
fets his body, to handle it roughly, —Romans 6:16
Self-control comes by instant
obedience to the guidance of the to discipline by hardships.” This
B
Holy Spirit. “For what the law kind of treatment seems startlingly
could not do, in that it was weak brutal, and Paul is not saying that
every believer should carry it out.
egin to reform the
through the flesh, God sending his
own Son in the likeness of sinful The message He is emphasizing world by first reforming
flesh, and for sin, condemned sin is that no sacrifice is too small or yourself.
in the flesh: That the righteousness too big to win the race and avoid
of the law might be fulfilled in us, being disqualified. Jesus put it a
who walk not after the flesh, but different way when He taught His
after the Spirit. . . . Because the disciples, “I say unto you, That “Temperance is the best
carnal mind is enmity against God: whosoever looketh on a woman to medicine—for it is a preven-
for it is not subject to the law of lust after her hath committed adul- tive and a preservative, as well
God, neither indeed can be. So then tery with her already in his heart. as a cure.” —C. H. Spurgeon
they that are in the flesh cannot “And if thy right eye offend
please God” (Romans 8:3–4, 7–8). thee, pluck it out, and cast it from
From The Power for True Success ©2001 by the Institute in Basic Life Principles • [Link] Self-Control 161
thee . . . And if thy right hand ungodliness and worldly lusts, we
offend thee, cut it off, and cast it should live soberly, righteously,
from thee: for it is profitable for and godly, in this present world”
thee that one of thy members (Titus 2:12).
should perish, and not that thy Fasting is painful, but it has
whole body should be cast into many rewards, especially that of
hell” (Matthew 5:28–30). developing self-control. When
There is one painful activity food appetites are brought under
in which Paul often participated control through regular fasting,
that has a direct correlation to it would seem to follow that other
self-control: fasting. “Giving no physical desires such as sexual
offense in any thing, that the appetites would be diminished.
ministry be not blamed: But in Body metabolism changes after
W e must conquer
self else we become a
slave of self.
all things approving ourselves
as the ministers of God, in much
patience, in afflictions, in necessi-
ties, in distresses, In stripes, in
imprisonments, in tumults, in
the second or third day of fasting,
by deriving its energy from the
breakdown of fat cells instead of
ingested food. The body supplies
the energy of vital organs (heart,
labours, in watchings, in fastings” lungs, kidneys, and brain) by this
Self-control is more than (II Corinthians 6:3–5). mechanism while causing other
moderation. It is absolute functions, e.g. sexual drives, to go
resolve to discontinue self- How Does Fasting dormant.
indulgence. Perhaps this is why Paul gives
Produce Self-Control? the instruction to married couples
“True self-control means will- Jesus did not say to His dis- to give proper physical affection
ciples “If ye fast,” but rather “When to each other unless it be during
ingness to resign the small
ye fast.” (See Matthew 6:16, emphasis a time of fasting. During that time
for the sake of the great, the
added.) Fasting is denying the body they would not have a desire to
present for the sake of the
food for any period of time. It is a do this. (See I Corinthians 7:5.)
future, the material for the
humbling process that God honors, The physical discomfort of
sake of the spiritual, and
when done for the right reasons. fasting could well be included in
that is what faith makes Peter’s admonition, “Forasmuch
David stated, “I humbled my soul
possible.” —Hugh Black
with fasting” (Psalm 35:13). God gives then as Christ hath suffered for us
grace to the humble, and it is grace in the flesh, arm yourselves like-
that teaches us “that, denying wise with the same mind: for he
that hath suffered in the flesh hath
ceased from sin” (I Peter 4:1). When
the disciples were unable to free
a boy from unclean spirits, they
asked Jesus why they were pow-
Unlike brown bears, the black erless against them. Jesus replied,
bear usually refrains from “This kind goeth not out but by
confrontation. Even when other bears prayer and fasting” (Matthew 17:21).
enter its territory, it avoids conflict
whenever possible. The Power That
Produces Self-Control
Scripture gives a clear se-
quence of spiritual steps that, when
followed, produce self-control.
162 Self-Control From The Power for True Success ©2001 by the Institute in Basic Life Principles • [Link]
“Having escaped the corruption A Prayer That Can
that is in the world through lust
. . . giving all diligence, add to Produce Self-Control
your faith virtue; and to virtue Paul said that when he was
S
knowledge; And to knowledge weak, then he was strong. (See II Cor-
temperance” (II Peter 1:4–6). inthians 12:10.) When we acknowl-
These steps are consistent edge our weakness, we are in a elf-control is putting
with the functions of the Holy position to experience God’s power.
Spirit in a believer’s life. When a
self under the control of
Jabez was more honorable than
person exercises faith by believing his brothers, and he understood the Holy Spirit. Then,
on the Lord Jesus Christ, he re- his weakness. Therefore, he “called walking in victory is
ceives the indwelling of the Holy on the God of Israel, saying, Oh walking in the Spirit.
Spirit. Then, as a believer, he can that thou wouldest bless me indeed,
ask his Heavenly Father to fill him and enlarge my coast, and that “Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall
with the Spirit. “If ye then, being thine hand might be with me, and not fulfil the lust of the flesh.”
evil, know how to give good gifts that thou wouldest keep me from —Galatians 5:16
unto your children: how much
more shall your heavenly Father
give the Holy Spirit to them that
ask him?” (Luke 11:13).
evil, that it may not grieve me!
And God granted him that which
he requested” (I Chronicles 4:10). The
Hebrew word for called in this
S cripture cleanses
our hearts and builds
Once we are filled with the passage is qara’. It means “to call the shields that quench
Spirit, we will be taken through unto, to cry out.” the darts.
trials and testing that will require Young men who have been
Fiery darts are surges of
us to die to ourselves and our unable to conquer the lusts of the
natural inclinations. Passing each anger or lust.
flesh have added this prayer to
test requires that we thank God the other steps described above “Thy word have I hid in mine heart,
for His purposes in allowing the and for the first time are experi- that I might not sin against thee.”
tests, rejoice in them by looking encing a new power over lust “Above all, taking the shield of faith,
for benefits, and then cry out to through increased self-control. wherewith ye shall be able to quench
God if there is need for deliverance. all the fiery darts of the wicked.”
To the degree that these steps are —Psalm 119:11, Ephesians 6:16
taken, the believer experiences Personal Evaluation
the power of the Holy Spirit.
How much self-control do you have?
The resurrection power of the
Spirit produces self-control. Paul • Do you give more time to spiritual pursuits than to the pleasures
refers to this in Romans [Link] “If of the world?
the Spirit of him that raised up • Do you bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ?
Jesus from the dead dwell in you, • Do you control your eating or indulge in foods you know are
he that raised up Christ from unhealthful?
the dead shall also quicken your
• Do you acknowledge your weakness so you can experience the
mortal bodies by his Spirit that
power of Christ?
dwelleth in you.”
Experiencing this power was • Do you literally cry out to God for deliverance from addictions?
Paul’s great goal; he was willing • Do you have a wise and Biblical program for fasting?
to go through whatever suffering • Have you asked your Heavenly Father to fill you with His Spirit?
was necessary. (See Philippians 3:8–10.) • Do you respond to each test of the Spirit by thanking God for His
purposes and then looking for benefits if you respond correctly?
• Do you ever erupt in uncontrollable anger?
• Do you remove provisions for indulgences so you will not fulfill them?
From The Power for True Success ©2001 by the Institute in Basic Life Principles • [Link] Self-Control 163
