God Provides Help with Self-Control (Michelle) - Strong and Secure: Finding Peace as a Young Woman

“In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and more excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patience endurance, and patience endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.” (2 Peter 1:5-6, NLT)

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you.” (John 14:16, NLT)

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” (2 Timothy 1:7, NLT)

If you ever struggle with pride, feeling like you’ve got it all together, take just a few minutes and inventory the areas of your life where you lack self-control. When I talk with students and young adults, they lament over time and energy demands of establishing an independent life. One hundred and sixty-eight hours in a week doesn’t seem to be enough time for getting prescriptions filled, creating great housekeeping habits, managing money, trying to stay healthy without home-cooked meals and an exercise class, and setting aside time to pray, read their Bible, and maybe journal a little. Some have become anxious due to what seems like impossible demands and share that they are tempted to give up on living balanced, healthy lives. Our internal critics often kick in, calling us names like lazy or unmotivated. Feeling hopeless can lead to diversions like partying with friends, bingeing a television series, gaming for hours, or lying in bed scrolling and surfing.

If you over-relate to lacking self-control, hold on to hope. God has provided an ever-present helper (John 14:16). The Holy Spirit empowers us with self-discipline (2 Timothy 1:7), enabling us to resist distraction and complete unappealing but necessary tasks. Experiencing the fruit of self-control in our lives rewards us with improved mental health, physical strength and endurance, and more satisfying relationships.

Experiencing Father God’s Provision

Father, I am trusting You to produce self-control in my life through the indwelling of Your Holy Spirit. Empower me to resist the temptation of distraction. Help me to make small changes that lead to bigger victories. In Jesus’s name, amen.

Growing Stronger

Look up what is involved in creating a SMART goal. Choose only one aspect of your life where you lack self-control and create a plan for doing something hard. Start simple. You might attempt doing something for the first time, or you might rebuild a lost habit like flossing your teeth once a day, studying a minimum of one hour before a test, designating a specific time each month to look at your finances, or spending at least two minutes sitting quietly before the Lord. If you need some extra help, ask someone to pray for you or hold you accountable. If you need encouragement, read a book, listen to a podcast or audiobook, or watch a video teaching on habit building. I suggest Jordan Raynor’s book Redeeming Your Time, which you can also find as a video teaching on YouTube.