Who Is In Control?

Galatians 5:22-23  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

The fruit of the Spirit known as self-control has plunged me deep in thought as I’ve contemplated what that term in the context of Galatians 5:22-23 means to me. I have always thought of self-control as being able to keep myself from doing things that I shouldn’t be doing. However, what about the control to do the things that I should be doing? This is where my problem comes in.

In the past, I have tried to control my behavior. I haven’t done a bad job but there are many areas where I feel that I haven’t controlled things very well. These are the areas that keep creeping back into my focus when I realize that I need to get my life under control. So what do I do? I make another list, read another book, come up with some sort of chart to help me control my behavior. Why, after all of these years, do I really think that there is some sort of gimmick that’s going to work for me this time? Why do I think that I may finally have everything stirred together in the proper manner that it’s going to make that life-changing difference in my life that I continue to seek?

 What I have come to realize is that the way that I need to control myself is to recognize what parts of my own self that I need to let go of. I need the control to be willing to let go of any negative behaviors or thought patterns that will hinder the Holy Spirit from working in and through my life. This type of self-control isn’t about being controlled by myself, as in having the self-control to not eat that cookie, but it’s the ability I have to recognize within myself (with God's guidance) what part of my behavior I need to rebuke and release so that I’m no longer quenching or hindering the Spirit.

I feel that the reason that this fruit is called “self-control” as opposed to “Spirit-control” is that God will not force us to change. He will not come into our lives and automatically rid us of the things in our lives that negatively affect us. We are not created to be his robots. We are created to follow Him and to emulate Jesus with our lives. We must be the ones to have the control because only through using our self-control to move “us” out of the way can there truly be room for the Spirit to work in us to produce the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and gentleness spoken about in these verses.

Think of a body guard bringing someone important through a crowd to the stage. The body guard goes on ahead, moving people out of the way so that the dignitary can move through. Once that special person reaches the stage, the body guard steps back out of the way so that the dignitary is able to do the work he is meant to do. The body guard, however, remains vigilant to keep people away who may hinder the work of the one he’s guarding. Our purpose for being in control of ourselves is only to move the things out of our lives that are in the way of the Spirit. Once that’s done, though it will be an ongoing process, we need to step back and let the Spirit do what He’s meant to do in our lives. We must remain vigilant as well, being aware of thoughts and actions that will hinder the work of the Spirit and being ready to remove them from our lives when they get in His way.

Self-control, although it is mentioned last in the list, is truly the key to the whole verse. I always thought that love was the key because love is the over-arching theme of the Bible. But first, we need self-control to be able to recognize and eliminate anything that can get in the way of the Spirit’s work to produce the rest of the fruit in us. Only then will we be fully Spirit-controlled and able to do the work that God has called us to do.