Day 11- A deeper vision of yourself; Control yourself girl

Day 11- Control yourself girl

Self-control. Self-control. Self-control. Each and every one of us faces a different demon of a vice that we have to deal with on a daily basis. Whether you are addicted to food, smoking, drinking, drugs, TV, gossip, or the Internet they are all demanding of our time and energy, but more importantly they are demolishing any chance for self-control to flourish in our lives. You may be wondering how we determine if our little “bad habit” is becoming a problem? It is simple really, if this activity is disrupting your life in ANY way or coming before your time with God it is a problem. Self-control is one of my most favorite fruits of the spirit, yet it is the hardest for me to accomplish. In order to gain this admirable attribute we must fully and completely surrender to God. For it is the Holy Spirit who kneads inside our hearts to overcome these weaknesses we have grown accustomed to. I know what you are thinking. You are already negotiating a way in your head to still enjoy your transgressions with out giving them up completely. Been there, done that. It doesn’t work. The whole point in surrendering your life to God is giving up everything and letting Him do the leading in your life. Obviously if you are still lackluster in your self-control department God is not the one leading you. You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. (Romans 8:9) With that being said hand over the keys to God and He will nourish the fruit of self-control within us and only then it will begin to thrive and soon amplify through us to others. That is the ultimate goal.

So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

 -Galatians 5:16

Lord, Thank you for showing us how to rid ourselves of the unpleasant ways of the flesh. Help us to starve the flesh and feed the spirit through You. We cannot do it alone. Share with us the beauty and peace that comes with surrendering our lives to you. Give us the strength to give it all up and use us as tools to show your glory to those around us.