Lunch & Learn: Self-Control

Self-Control

📖 1 Corinthians 9:25“And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things.”

Word: Enkrateia (ἐγκράτεια) — self-control, mastery over one's desires.

Thought: Greek and Roman hearers were familiar with self-mastery as a virtue. Paul radically relocates its source: Christian self-control is fruit of the Spirit. We aren't simply mastering ourselves through willpower; God's Spirit enables desires and impulses to come under Christ's rule.

Go Deeper: Read Titus 2:11–12, 1 Corinthians 9:24–27 and 2 Peter 1:5–8. Notice the relationship between grace, discipline and self-control.

Consider: What appetite has been telling me “yes” when obedience requires “no”?

Challenge: Practice saying no to one desire so you can say yes more freely to God.