Fruit of the Spirit: Week Eight

And the Fruit of the Spirit is Self-Control.

Here we come to the last of the fruits. It is interesting that this one should be the concluding attribute, the final painting the Spirit hangs in the exhibit of our life, in this list of attributes. Here lies the point of interest. When true self-control is received as the gift it is, and practiced in truth, it will become evident that the highest form of maturity that can be attained to in this pre-glory life has been reached. What does that mean? Simply, this: The person has become wise. Wisdom, flying in full colors, is self-control. Wisdom, therefore Self-Control, means knowing when to shut up, when to speak up, when to act, when to stand by, when to think through things, and when to let comments roll off your back like ducks in the rain. Self-control means the ability to control your self, your being, your everything about you. When you are able to control your thoughts, your words, your actions, your feelings, everything, you have reached maturity. To be sure, by way of reminder, Self-Control itself is a gift of God, and a work of the Spirit. Do not be deceived and think that maturity is a mountain top to be reached through self will and pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps diligence. It is reached through continual submission to God and His word. Through a selfless and teachable heart, the Spirit brings us to the point of maturity, and grants us the wisdom to face everyday life.

So what does this look like? In medieval fashion, I will break our bodies into four sections: the hands (our actions), the mind (our thoughts), the heart (our emotions), and the tongue (our words). To go before the scoffers, let me quick make a disclaimer. These are not separable. Nor is one above the other. I do not elevate the mind over the heart (like rationalists), or the heart over the mind (like romantics), or the hands over the tongue (like empiricists), or the tongue over the hands (like philosophers). We are one body: heart, mind, soul, and strength. But allow some inseparable distinctions to be made for the sake of learning. So let us look at these each in closer detail.

The Hands
The fruit of self-control is like this. A man was running a marathon. Despite the advice of his coach, he began by sprinting all out, for three miles. At the end of three miles he was far ahead of everyone. He backed off a little, but continued to run pretty fast, without regard to pace, or storing up energy for the last stretch. Another man, who had listened to his coach, started at the same time, but paced himself. He controlled his speed, and his energy. A quarter of the way into the race, he was two miles behind the first man. Half way through he was a mile behind the first man. Three quarters the way through, he had caught up to the sprinter, for the sprinter had spent all his energy and had none for the last five miles. The controlled runner continued past the sprinter, and won, with the first man trailing by three miles.

The fruit of self-control is also like this. A young boy, one who enjoyed eating candy, wandered into a candy store. A sign hung over the counter that said, “All is free, take what you will.” The boy, being an ‘obedient’ child, naturally follow the command, and subsequently ate far more than was healthy for him to eat. Another boy came in, while the pig was at his business. He likewise saw the sign. He wondered through the store, simply looking at what was there. His eye finally fell on one piece of chocolate. He took it and ate it slowly. He then walked out, feeling satisfied and, more importantly, not sick as a dog.

We must control our actions. This means understanding what our bodies are capable of and what they are not capable of. Study your body. Study your temptations and areas of weakness. Know what you can handle, and what is dangerous for you to do. If you are in a situation where you are unable to control your body, you are in danger of falling into sin. If you are the type of person who cannot refrain from eating tons of candy, to the point where it makes you sick, do not walk into a confectioners store on a day when they are giving away free candy. Know your weaknesses and practice self-control, meaning do not set your self up for failure. On the positive side, if you like candy, eat candy. But only one piece, not one hundred. Control your actions, for those who cannot are known as gluttons, thieves, and murderers.

The Mind
The fruit of self-control is like this. There was a man who lived alone on an island. On this island there was one mountain that was impossible to climb. For all he knew, he was by himself. When he had first arrived on the island, he was pretty normal, and did not do anything weird or evil. After a while however, he lost control and began cutting down trees, setting things on fire, and destroying all forms of life. He continued to do this thinking he was alone, and that nobody saw him or what he was doing. However, one day a man came down from the ‘unclimbable’ mountain, and took the man aside, locked him in chains, and threw him in a pit. He condemned the man for the destruction he had accomplished. And there the man stayed until he died.

The mind is a place we can go, and think about anything in the world. Nobody will ever know what you think when you are alone in your room. Your thoughts are completely your thoughts and your thoughts alone. I cannot know what you are thinking right now, nor you know what I am thinking. On a strictly human level, this is true. However we forget that God knows your thoughts. He will come down the mountain and judge your thoughts. If your thoughts are continually evil, if they are lustful, destructive, vindictive, wrathful, malicious, or in anyway other than what edifies and builds others up, you are in sin, and your sin will find you out. Even if it is tightly locked away in the corners of your mind, your sin will find you out. The hidden will be made known.

The Heart
The fruit of self-control is like this.

There once was a boy named Willy.
He was hit by another named Billy.
He cried off his head
Until he was dead.
And everyone thought he was silly.

The fruit of self-control is also like this. A man worked at a water plant. His job was to turn on and turn off the water. One day someone teased him, and this made him so upset that he lost control of the valve, and was not able to turn it off, until it had flooded the whole room. The manager of the plant, who had just walked in, saw the flood and was very distressed. He was very angry with the worker. He ran over to the valve, and took control over it, and stopped the flooding.

Emotions are not bad. Emotions are God given. We would be sinning to not understand and be comfortable with our emotions. But emotions are like everything else and have the ability to be left on, subsequently flooding the room. We must know what our emotions are, and be able to be master over them. This does not mean never showing them, or ever displaying them in public. It simply means do not let your emotions control you.

The Tongue
The fruit of self-control is like this. There once was a man who talked a lot. Often his words were not nice, and sometimes down right mean. One day, as he said something particularly painful, a small dart came out of nowhere, though it seemed to come from his face, and shot right at the person he spoke to. The dart struck them right in the chest, and they stumbled over, dead. The next day, the same thing happened. He said one mean thing to his co-worker, and the co-worker ended up dead on the floor, having been struck by a dart. Pretty soon, the man was killing people left and right. The darts never ran out. He always had something mean to say. The man realized after a few days of this that the darts came whenever he said something mean. He realized that he could not continue to kill people. In order to stop killing others, he gagged himself with a cloth, and took it out only to eat. He refused to talk to anyone, and everyone from that point on stayed alive.

The tongue is the most dangerous creature of all. James 3:8ff say this: No human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessings and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. We must know what we say to others, and with what intentions we say things to others. Both are made known to the hearer. What you say to other people has tremendous power. There is something to be said for the old saying, “If you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” Nice is an awful concept. Nice is superficial and does not address the heart. I would change the phrase to this:

“If you have no kind words, whether in construction or edification, or in praise, do not speak. If what you are going to say will not help anything, do not speak. If what you say is said merely for your own pleasure, and without consideration of others, do not speak.

Think about your words to others, and their effect on them. Are they spoken out of a desire to see your brother built up and edified? Are they spoken with a desire to bless? We cannot bless God and curse our neighbor with the same tongue. If you bless God, really and truly, than you will bless your neighbor. If you curse your neighbor, you will curse God.

Wrap up
Here again we honor God as God and give Him thanks. He has blessed us, and given us every spiritual gift in heaven. Let us return our honor and gratitude in watching over our actions, thoughts, emotions, and tongue. Let us approach wisdom, and be taken captive by it.


Psalm One
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,and its leaf does not wither.

In all that he does, he prospers.
The wicked are not so,but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;

for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.