Self-control

Self-control

Feelings are indicators, not dictators. . . . They can indicate where your heart is in the moment, but that doesn’t mean they have the right to dictate your behavior and boss you around. You are more than the sum total of your feelings and perfectly capable of that little gift from Jesus called self-control.

Lysa TerKeurst

It takes more than willpower to master self-control. When you face disappointing circumstances and uncooperative people, you’re tempted to reward yourself with short-term indulgences that are mostly destructive. Consider your approach to life and determine where you need to exercise wise judgment.

“A person without self-control is like a city with broken-down walls” (Proverbs 25:28). Don’t allow negative feelings to control your moods. Avoid choices that are damaging to your health and finances (Proverbs 21:20). Work hard to control your temper—when someone wrongs you, “it is a great virtue to ignore it” (Proverbs 19:11, GNT). Most of all, remember that I have given you “a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:7, ESV). Biblical self-control is about being controlled by Christ.

Prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world.

1 Peter 1:13