Fruit of the Spirit: Self Control

In Galatians 5:22-23, Paul lists self-control among the Fruits of the Spirit. I don’t know about you, but I find self-control to be a challenging characteristic to master. Managing our emotions, desires, and behavior feels like a daily struggle. I am grateful for God’s gift of free will, but it certainly comes with difficulties.

However, self-control also helps to produce a healthy life.  It brings us closer to God, lends itself to healthy relationships with others, and aids us in making decisions that benefit our well-being. Self-control is what allows us to hold tight to all the other fruits we read about - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and gentleness. The ability to slow down and respond with these qualities, rather than react, is something we need to practice consistently in order to increase our self-control.

Luckily, we don’t need to do this alone. Not only can we call on our faith community, friends, or mentors for encouragement and accountability, but we can also go to God our Father in moments when we feel we are lacking self-control. We can pray to Him for strength - knowing that we can “do all things through Christ who strengthens us” (Philippians 4:13).

Perhaps you could choose an area of your life where you would like to increase your self-control or to grow one of the other fruits of the spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, or gentleness. I hope that you feel able to reach out to your community or spend time in prayer with the Lord to ask for support and encouragement to do so.