The Fruit of the Spirit: Self-Control

Christ Restoration Church Sermons

selected passages
April 21, 2024
preached by Pastor Chris Audino
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Time of Reflection Quotations

“[Self control is] control over one’s behavior and the impulses and emotions beneath it”

~ Philip Towner

“Our minds are mental greenhouses where unlawful thoughts, once planted, are nurtured and watered before being transplanted into the real world of unlawful actions… These actions are savored in the mind long before they are enjoyed in reality. The thought life, then, is our first line of defense in the battle of self-control.”

~ Jerry Bridges

“Self-control is…not the same as self-dependence, in which we rely on personal will power to control ourselves. Instead, self-control is a gift of the Holy Spirit, given through faith in Jesus Christ… Self-control is a strategic countermeasure to the insatiable cravings of sin.”

~ Edward Welch

“We secretly wish we could have a “vicarious” Christianity, and could be good by proxy, and have everything done for us. Anything that requires exertion and labor is entirely against the grain of our hearts. But the soul can have “no gains without pains”… To be a Christian it will cost a man his love of ease.”

~ J.C. Ryle

“People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.”

~ D.A. Carson

Sermon Passage

selected passages (ESV)

Galatians 5:22-26

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. ²⁴ And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵ If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

2 Timothy 1:7

…⁷ for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

Proverbs 25:26-28

²⁶ Like a muddied spring or a polluted fountain is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked. ²⁷ It is not good to eat much honey, nor is it glorious to seek one’s own glory. ²⁸ A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.

1 Corinthians 6:12

¹² ‘All things are lawful for me,’ but not all things are helpful. ‘All things are lawful for me,’ but I will not be dominated by anything.

1 Peter 4:7

⁷ The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled
and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.