Fruit of the Spirit: Self-Control

Self-control rooted in human dignity—our own and our neighbors’—helps us grasp most fully what God has for all of us. This kind of self-control, the kind that acknowledges our individual humanity and looks toward the communal good, is what enables us to step into healthy, productive, and loving disagreement.

When self-control is only about the “don’ts,” it becomes a highly individual endeavor: what I don’t do in order to be a good Christian, what I avoid in order to follow God. While growing up, I (Kathy) may have been told that “they’ll know we are Christians by our love,” but I heard much more about what Christians didn’t do and were against. The result of that focus was usually an individualized behavior.

But what if self-control isn’t about censoring ourselves but about expressing our full selves and about actions that point toward God’s beauty and love for us? What a breath of fresh air and hope we Christians could be, ought to be, if, even in our most tense and heated disagreements, it was clear we were seeing and honoring God’s image in one another and working toward a resolution that reflects God’s Good News for the world.

Belonging to Jesus means you and I have access to a self-control that fights for the good of all. That means our self-control isn’t about holding ourselves or others back—it means we get angry at injustice. It means we act in ways that help bodies, minds, and emotions flourish. And it means we approach our disagreements with a healthier posture and desire for change.

“The Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” (2 Timothy 1:7).

Questions for Reflection

If you think about self-control as being more about what you do, rather than what you avoid doing, what ideas does that give you about living a life of more fruitfulness for the Kingdom of God?

Would you like more of what Kathy and Matt have to say about loving disagreement? You can read the first chapter of their book here.