"For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world..." Titus 2:11-12
Self-control. The best one (and hardest one) is always the last! Self- control is defined as the ability to exercise restraint or control over one's feelings, emotions, reactions, etc. WOW! How many of us have that one down?! (I ain't where I need to be, but thank GOD I ain't where I used to be!) Early on in my marriage self-control was non-existent for me. My husband called it CRAZY ( I have since graduated to Complexed in his book), but nevertheless, I was out of control! I would say whatever I felt like saying and did whatever I felt like doing at times. 98% of my responses where merely off of emotions and nothing else. It is a dangerous thing to operate off of feelings and emotions. I am a very emotional person. I wear my heart on my sleeve, and when things don't go just the way I planned (notice I said I), then it's WWIII!
But if you notice in the bible there is hardly any mention, if any at all, about feelings and emotions. We MUST get somewhere in God, learn and practice his word, and stay away from the ungodly things. A lot of the time we act off of emotions because of some void that we have in our lives. Some voids that we have include but are not limited to, shopping, eating, spending, men, drugs, alcohol and so on. We must get to the root of our issues or voids, ask God to deliver us from them so that we may begin to live productive, righteous and Godly lives.
The Fruits of the Spirit is an awesome guideline for our spiritual walk, but we must first fall in love with the Lord and allow him to lead us. It's time out for playing Christian. We must be leaders and examples for the younger generations as well as one another. We have to teach them what we did not learn, but we have to be able to recognize what that is first. Lay before the Lord and ask him to show you yourself. You have to make sure you are ready because it won't be pretty. Trust him in all things and he won't lead you wrong. I hope you all have been thoroughly blessed by the Fruits of the Spirit and this blog. I will continue to post things as God reveals them to me. You all are beautiful and awesome women of God! Let's start letting our lights shine before men. It will make a world of difference.
I will leave you with this, 1 Peter 1:13 says, "Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.
Be blessed and have an awesome day!
Girl these are awesome. I love sitting and reading these. It is like a devotion that I needed or needed to pass on to family and friends who are going through right now. We often wonder why things happen the way they do. I have been pondering that question because I have been going through a situation in my life. The problem is that I tend to try to fix things for other people but I have learned that I can point them in a direction and that direction is usually God. I want to be in control most of the time and I find myself needing to step back and let God do his thing. I know that He can do whatever it is I think I can do and more. I want to make sure that I am listening when God is talking because we often second guess what He is telling us. I want to make sure that all I do and say is pleasing to Him. Everyday I am striving to be what God wants me to be at home first and then in my everyday walk at work and in the community.
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