I suspect that some, maybe even most of us, have an area or two in our lives where we exercise far too little self-control. For a few of us, the struggle is a mounting concern: bad habits are forming, our thought-life and choices are being tainted by the actions we are partaking of, and so on.
I have always been a person able to practice self-restraint. There are nevertheless a few areas of my life that still need work! Recently I found myself frustrated and discouraged with self-control failures — and the Lord seemed to say “Trust Me. I’ll show you the way.”
Later that evening He addressed my concern with this wonderful devotional thought from Arthur Penrhyn “Dean” Stanley (1815 -1881).
Stanley begins with Proverbs 16:32, “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.”
Stanley then comments: “More dear in the sight of God and His angels than any other conquest is the conquest of self, which each man, with the help of heaven, can secure for himself.”
Simply put: What is of utmost importance to God and to the truly committed follower of Jesus (the “conquest of self”), the Lord Himself will enable us to do!
That victory begins with an act of the will: saying “no” (or “yes” depending on our situation). Remember this: Old patterns and habits are built through use — and broken through disuse. Start choosing to exercise self-restraint (I Peter 1:13) and before too long you will see how true this maxim is! After all: Self-control is the will of God for His children (I Thessalonians 5:8; Titus 2:11-12; I Peter 5:8). We can therefore rest assured He’s going to enable us in this decision.