PRAYER

Dear God,
We come humbly before you,
Seeking the strength to practice self-control in our lives.

Please assist us in resisting temptations that often lead us astray
and grant us the ability to align our thoughts and actions with your will.

Guide us in managing our emotions and desires
So that your spirit may take priority in our lives.
May we find the balance and determination
To live lives that honor you,

May your grace empower us to strive for self-control.
We pray in Jesus’ name.
Amen.

SERMON

1 John 1:5 NRSV - This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you that God is light, and in him, there is no darkness at all.

Galatians 5:19-26 NIV
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. As I did before, I warn you that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

Willpower: the mind and the will over our emotions.

Deuteronomy 6:4-5 NIV - Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

Genesis 29:20 NIV - Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.

POINT: Self-control is not a matter of the will but a matter of the heart.

POINT: Self-control requires attention and effort.

Foundations of self-control:
1. Looking inward/self-awareness.
2. Looking forward/remembering what matters most.

2 Peter 1:3-9 NIV
His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him, who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these, he has given us his very great and precious promises so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. If you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting they have been cleansed from their past sins.

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