THE LIFESTYLE OF TEMPERANCE AND SELF-CONTROL.
THE LIFESTYLE OF TEMPERANCE AND SELF-CONTROL.
Temperance means moderation in action, thought, and feeling. It also means restraint, abstinence, self-abnegation.
Self-control means restraint exercised over one’s impulses, emotions, and desires.
This means one and the same thing.
Imagine if Joseph had no self-control when his master’s wife tried to lure him to offend God. He most definitely would not have fulfilled his destiny.
Galatians 5; 22-24 – But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance: against such, there is no law. And they that are christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lust.
The word temperance or self-control comes from the Greek word en and Kratos which means “in and power”.
The two greek words form the word enkrateia which means in control and denotes power over one’s-self. This denotes the control of one’s desires, appetites, and impulses.
As one cooperates with the Holy Spirit, he produces temperance in a person’s life, this enables the person to say no to overeating, anger, overreacting, and indulging in fleshly activities.
A person that exercises temperance and self-control has the power to live in moderation. The Holy Spirit enables you to say no to things that weaken you as a child of God.
Because Joseph had self-control he was able to overcome the sin that Potiphar’s wife intended to lure him into.
As children of God, one of the virtues we need to desire and practice is temperance and self-control.
Even in your daily activities, in what you consume, in what you say and do, self-control is paramount.
You need self-control to identify when not to go overboard with that food, that conversation, that movie, etc
There is a saying that too much of everything is a disease.
Self-control helps you to know the level at which something is appropriate or not.
Remember when Daniel refused to eat the food that came from the King’s kitchen, he asked that he be given vegetables instead. That was self-control because he knew what he was looking to achieve.
It is recorded that Daniel and his three friends who indulged in the diet of vegetables and water looked healthier and stronger than the young men who had been eating the food assigned by the King.
See Daniel 1: 5-15.
May the Spirit of God help us to walk in temperance and self-control and may we give room for the Spirit of God to thrive in our lives in Jesus name, Amen.
© CYMI Blog, Written By Mrs. Esther Edidiong
Photos: Jack Sharp and Tim Goedhart
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