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Have you ever struggled with your will power? Most people have at least one area where they struggle to live as Jesus intends. For some it is the outbursts of anger when others upset them. Or they just love to gossip. For others, it is food — or certain types of food. You know, I can easily turn down brussel sprouts. But baked goods are more tempting!
Some desires are very powerful. People can actually become addicted to drugs and alcohol. Others struggle with sexual purity — whether mental or physical. For them, pornography and hooking up are the struggle. Let’s face it. Some things seem to enslave us. The apostle Paul spoke of his own lack of self-control in Romans 7:15. He said, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.”(NIV)
In I Corinthians 7:9 Paul uses the word for self-control in the context of living an abstinent life. In the context, he was advising the unmarried to remain unmarried because of the crisis they were experiencing in their society. He was not commanding people, but giving his opinion. If they had the self-control, he thought it better that they remain unmarried because of the crisis. This shows us that self-control can be more powerful than our strongest urges.
Struggling with self-control? Don’t we all! We all need God to give us self-control!
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Bumper music “Landing Place” performed by Mark July, used under license from Shutterstock.