The Extraordinariness of Self-Control
Doesn’t “self-control” sound boring? And doesn’t it stymie our personal freedoms and choices?
However, what does the word “freedom” mean in the Bible? If we trace this concept Biblically, we encounter a rich narrative. Adam and Eve were created as freeborn children of our heavenly Father. But after they sinned, they became slaves of their desires, of sin and death and of the devil. They once were masters over these things; however, they used their freedom unwisely and thus succumbed to the lifelong tyranny of these enemies of the soul. And thus, God’s rescue plan has always been to re-free His children: The stories of the ancient Hebrew people as slaves in Egypt; their constant attacks from the Midianites, Ammonites, Philistines and more in the Promised Land; their captivity and exile in Babylon and Persia; and their colonization under Roman occupation.
All these Earthly realities taught them this deeper spiritual truth that God was going to free them from their spiritual enemies and deal with them once and for all. Now free again, His children can follow and worship God and experience God’s loving embrace as their Father. This is Biblical freedom.
So, why does Paul list “self-control” in the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)? Self-control sounds dissonant with what we’ve been told about happiness, but I wonder if this dissonance is a product of our misconceptions of freedom. We have been culturized to understand “freedom” as doing whatever we please, becoming whomever we choose, choosing whatever we desire, and desiring and pursuing whatever makes us happy. Doesn’t this sound antithetical to Biblical freedom?
Biblical freedom is not desiring and pursuing those things that make us only happy (because many times, aren’t these things also destructive?) but rather, desiring and pursuing our Father’s attributes of love, compassion, sacrifice and holiness. Biblical freedom is not choosing to become more of ourselves (because deep down, aren’t we all imperfect and flawed human beings?), but becoming more like God’s perfect and pure Son, our brother, Jesus Christ. Biblical freedom is not doing as we please, but rather taming and mastering our desires, thoughts, words and deeds to please God.
This is why Strong’s Bible Dictionary defines the Greek word egkrateia, which we translate as self-control in the fruit of the Spirit, as “mastering one’s desires, passions and appetites” (STRONGS G1466). Self-control is extraordinary because it harnesses and channels our freedom towards God.
So, lean into self-control just a little bit more! It steers our freedom so that we can experience life as we’re created to, and the life that God desires for us!
