Galatians 5:22-24 (KJV)
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Judith got angry at the slightest provocation and was known for this by all her friends because once she gets angry they’ll all have to leave her alone.
Even though Judith was a believer, she had no control of herself. Her friends left her and anyone who wanted to marry her ran away. She suffered dejection and even considered suicide so many times until she was taught self-control.
I’ll define self-control or temperance as your ability to control yourself. Many believers today have lost control or never even gained control of themselves. They are controlled from without by external influences. Insult them and they’ll get angry, give them money and they’ll be happy, but they’ll be sad when they lose money. They really are not the ones controlling themselves but are controlled by external influences.
In Genesis 1:28-30 God gave us dominion, in 1 Corinthians 3:21-23 He gave us all things, and in Luke 9:1 God gave us power and authority. Use your dominion and authority to bring all that is within you under the control of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
Go into today depending on the Holy Spirit to be self-controlled.
—Dr. Emmanuel James
Website: www.streamglobe.org
Source: Devotional