The Fruit of Self-Control: With The Good In Mind
by Daniel Burton
It seems that our current day and culture does not value self-control. Everyone is urged and encouraged to give in to their immediate desires in order to gratify whatever they are seeking. Pleasure has become the god of our current day as we all desire to achieve the most amount of pleasure for what we seek. Yet, throughout scripture, what mankind desires has proven itself time and time again to not be beneficial for their own good. The things that God desires and directs His follows to do, while it may contradict the desires of the flesh, consistently remain better for mankind. When the Spirit of God is alive and moving within us, self-control that refuses to give in to every desire will demonstrate the God within us. Self-control involves taking an intense look at what our heart craves and choose to obey what ultimately will secure our salvation and sustain our soul. It abstains when it’s easier to give in, it runs when it’s easier to walk, and it submits to the will of an infinite and Holy God who only wants what is best for His beloved creation.
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
God’s Will Versus Our Own
The impulses desires of the flesh run contrary to the will and desire of our Heavenly Father. This is not due to God being particularly withholding of pleasure as God lavishes his grace and blessing on His people as a good Father would. 
Instead, it comes from God’s nature of being perfection and holy. Sin corrupted our flesh with its allures and false promises, creating an addiction to thing that ultimately can only produce destruction. Sin may produce a temporary high but that pleasure will not and cannot sustain a person’s souls. Self-control chooses to abstain from the temporary pleasure in search of a greater reward.
Where our will and desires lead to destruction, God’s ultimately saves and care for His people. We may put aside our own will and stand strong in the will of God. Self-control roots itself in submission to a God whose sovereign holiness knows more than us and desires to return His beloved creation to Himself. Self-control, like every other component part of the fruit of the Spirit, expresses the will and nature of God through our actions. Thus, with self-control, we see the Christian fully submit to the will of God. Obedience to God is not contingent upon our ability to understand why God commands the things He does but bows before God.
Seeking Our Desire
All of this easily begs the question “What is it we earnestly desire?” People are relatively primal in that, at our core, we seek what we desire. Whatever we seek will be the thing we find, even if it is not true, good, or right. 
This is precisely why self-control is so vital for any person, specifically the follower of Jesus Christ. Self-control transforms our heart to pursue the ultimate good and the absolute truth. Self-control aligns our will with the will of God until the two are indistinguishable from one another. By identifying ourselves with the person of Jesus Christ, we allow ourselves to become more like Him. The desires we once held are put to death on the cross of Christ as we lay our own lives down to grasp hold of the life that God extends to us.
In coming to Jesus Christ, we surrender to the will of Jesus Christ. The grace and lavish nature of God is seen in His absolute willingness to heap grace upon grace upon grace on His people. His desires is to bless His people with the fullness of His glory and welcome us into His arms as His beloved children. Yet, the desires of our flesh and the desires of God do not peacefully coexist with one another. There will be a trade off of one as we pursue the other. The question we all must ask is which one do we want more. Self-control trades in the momentary, fleeting pleasures that this world offers in exchange for the eternal richness and glory that comes from a relationship with our heavenly Father and ruler of the Universe. By allowing the Spirit to move within us and set our desire, we willingly shield ourselves from the pain of fleshly pursuit in exchange for love from the King of all thing.
For more in this series, check out The Fruit of the Spirit
