Photo Credit: Sheri Silver
"Self-control, perseverance"
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. 1 Peter 2:5-7
In the next couple of days, we will be examining these faith supplements but in no particular order.
A supplement is something that completes or enhances something else when added to it. Therefore, Self-control ( like food supplement) is a faith supplement that completes our faith. And in order to have the complete dose of faith required to walk with God, we must have a full dose of these supplements; one of which is self-control... and self-control is enhanced by perseverance and knowledge... we will examine self-control and perseverance today.
Self-control means the ability to control oneself, in particular one's emotions and desires or the expression of them in one's behavior, especially in difficult situations: restraint, temperance, moderation.
I read something recently that was so profound. It says, “in our walk with God… Biblically, self-control, or lack thereof, goes to the deepest part of us: the heart. It begins with control of our emotions, and then includes our minds as well. (In order to exercise self-control, we may decide to ignore it, push it away, pretend it’s not there…) Turn your eyes and attention, yes, but not to a mere diversion, but to the source of true change and real power that is outside yourself, where you can lawfully indulge. (Now, this is where it hit me..) The key to self-control is not inward, but upward. True self-control is a gift from above, produced in and through us by the Holy Spirit. Until we accept that it is received from outside ourselves, rather than whipped up from within, the effort we give to control our own selves will rebound to our praise, rather than God’s”.
Isn’t that powerful? Next time you find yourself struggling, remember to look upward not within. The next supplement to add to self-control is perseverance.
Perseverance means to be steadfast in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success: be tenacious, carry on, keep going, struggle on, stand one’s ground.
So, Peter is saying to us, after the Holy Spirit helps us to exercise self-control, we should be steadfast in allowing His power to put us under. We should be tenacious, carry on, no matter how long the temptation persists, we should keep going, struggle on and stand our ground.
Some translations say steadfastness instead of perseverance.
Steadfast means to be resolutely or dutifully firm and unwavering: to be unyielding, unwavering, unflinching, uncompromising, resolute, unchanging, unhesitating.
In the article I referenced above, it goes on to say; But we also need to note that self-control is not a gift we receive passively, but actively. We are not the source, but we are intimately involved. We open the gift and live it. Receiving the grace of self-control means taking it all the way in and then out into the actual exercise of the grace.
Self-control is an actual exercise of grace that we live out. And we are admonished by the apostle Peter to remain steadfast in living out that exercise of grace; be unyielding, unwavering no matter the pressure, do not give in. Be unflinching, no matter the pain, be uncompromising no matter the gains. Be resolute. Unchanging, stand true and firm, unhesitating. Remember who you believe.
May we find grace in this time to live out these supplements of self-control & perseverance in Jesus name. Amen.
Comments