By Treva Susuras

Let me let you in on a little secret. We all have our own struggles when it comes to self-control. Galatians tells us the fruit of the spirit is Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

Today I would like to discuss self-control. I would love to tell you that I have it all. All the fruit of the Spirit. I operate in all of the above. That would make me perfect and that I am not! So, let’s get real. If someone tells you they have no problems with any of the fruit,,, including self-control, there is a possibility they could be in denial. I have yet to meet a perfect person so don’t feel bad if you’re not perfect.

The meaning of self-control is: the ability to control oneself, in particular one’s emotion and desires or the expression of them in one’s behavior, especially in difficult situations.

So, another words we need to be able to control our emotions, thoughts, and behavior in the face of temptations and impulses.

One of the ways the enemy can get to us is through deceit. He tells us the we need to do _____ or that we are____. You fill in the blanks for your struggles. He draws us into temptation buy offering us a way out of feeling pain, regret, even helps us when we feel overwhelmed. Some of us have so much pain in our past we walk around in denial and not reality. This is a dangerous place to be as we begin to look for an escape from reality and before you know it, we lose control. It may be drugs or alcohol, it could be rage toward our loved ones.

Many years ago, I was married to a man that was an alcoholic. When he drank, he would get mean and the beatings would start. Talk about lack of self-control. Or course neither one of us was living for the Lord. He would get angry, then rage and then beat me up. He had no self- control. I had no self-control or I would have gotten myself and my children to a safe place a lot sooner then I did, or maybe I just lived in toxic denial. He will change, he will stop beating me when I stop making him so angry, if I could only…

You see without self-control we let our emotions rule us instead of us ruling them. We find ourselves caught up in a life full of confusion, chaos, and loss. Can you relate? That was my life and that drove me deeper and deeper into a life full of pain and hurt. Drinking alcohol and drugs. Of course, that was no one’s business’, or so I thought at the time… I wasn’t hurting anyone but myself. My choice right. No, not true, because of my lack of self-control, everyone around me suffered. My parents, siblings, even my little children.

Self -control is not easy. To walk away from a temptation is hard. Especially if we are living right now in pain and suffering. I hear from so many women that are desperate for help. It is a heart breaker. Yes, I wish I had a house for them to come to but God has not opened that door yet. He will in His time but not yet.

Most of these ladies have so much pain, regret, and past hurts in their lives. But they all have one thing in common. Lack of self-control. Now like I said before, I still struggle in some areas of my life. I have also overcome so much in my life because of Jesus Christ. I could not have changed my life if not for Him.

Temptation has not stopped, but I no longer crave drugs or alcohol, I do however crave sugar. I overcome so many temptations, but I fight eating right. You see the devil will never give up trying to get us to fail in some way or other but I have a Savior that will never give up either. And,,, He is much greater, stronger, smarter, and He is omnipresent, (everywhere) so He is right with me when I need Him. All I have to do is call on Him and He is waiting to help me through my most difficult circumstances.

The enemy looks so much bigger than he is. If the temptations in your life look like it would be impossible to overcome, cry out to the One who overcame it all for us… Jesus. It’s called self-control.

Self-control is not giving in to temptations but it is also forcing yourself to do the right thing. We may know what to do but not have enough self-control to make ourselves do it.

How much time do we spend on personal time with Jesus? In prayer? In praise and worship? Just listening for His still small voice? For some reason it is hard to find time to do what right but easy to do what we shouldn’t do. We have plenty of time for that, and that is just what the enemy lives on in our lives. That is an open door for the enemy. Fill yourself so full of Jesus and God’s word that the enemy cant get in.

If you are struggling in this area please call or text 281-868-0537. Someone from our team will be glad to talk to you or pray with you. God bless!