The Alpha of Self Control

UV 3153/10000 The Alpha of Self Control

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind
2 Timothy 1 v 7
The uni-verse first puts the negative side of the truth: the spirit of fear does not come from God. It is the opposite spirit of faith, the spirit of truth, the spirit of love, the spirit of all prevailing power, the spirit of judgement, the spirit of wisdom, knowledge, understanding, the spirit of self discipline that comes to us from God in Christ. It is this self same spirit that teaches us that we can overcome and do all things in Christ, we can face all things through faith in Him. God has not given us the spirit of laziness but of industry and enterprise, the spirit of doing all we can to use the talents He has placed in us, the gifts He inspires in us through the Holy Spirit. He has not given us the spirit of failure and despondency but one of optimism, joy and confidence in Him.
The spirit of self control means that our self is yielded to the control of the Holy spirit. We are no longer in control of ourselves for we cannot control ourselves but we gain the spirit of disciplining of our selves when we yield our wills to the Lord, when we imbibe His word as the spiritual equivalent of our life-sustaining breath, as the spiritual equivalent of our necessary food that enhances our strength. We are no longer vulnerable and weak before the world and the powers of darkness but we are clothed with the might and power of the Lord. We wear the full armour of God. We battle not with human weapons or with the weapons of darkness but with spiritual weapons. We cam look death in the eye and say, without batting an eyelid that " You can do nothing to me. You cannot touch a hair on my head without the knowledge and permission of the Lord." Consequently, we are filled with lion-like courage to take on challenges and problems much bigger than us or much bigger than we could ever handle before we received the Word into our hearts.
We yield control of our tempers to the Lord- we surrender our right to get irritated, angry, out of control to the Lord, the Holy Spirit. We yield control of our thoughts, our emotions, our tongues to the Lord. We are no longer afraid of what the future will bring to us and to our family and friends. We are no longer guilty about the past. We no longer fear eternal death and the judgement of God for we have passed from death to life, from darkness to the light of His word, of His love and His righteousness. We no longer live by our desires, our passions, our priorities, our whims and fancies but by His word and His expressed will. We pass on both our anxieties and our ambitions to the Lord. We are confident He can handle it to work it out by His great love and power for His glory and our goodness.