Faithbase

Now, the last root of the Spirit is self-control. It's very similar to gentleness that we've looked at before, and we can think of gentleness as the external part, what we say, how we say it, our body language, those type of things, that we are calm and we are in control in a chaotic environment with what we say and how we say it. Self-control in Biblical Greek is more of a mental state, an internal state of the heart. It almost comes first, that we have to have that self-control mentally and within our heart so that it can come out. But the last fruit of the Spirit is last, but it's not the least, because a lot of those other ones will flow from this one, because that word self-control means literally a calmness of the mind and a calmness of the heart, especially when there's chaos around us, when there's problems, when there's fighting, when there's tension, when there's just regular life issues, self-control is a huge testimony to the world of the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. So that's why it's so important that we as believers be people of self-control, because ultimately it's not me controlling myself, because listen, I've gotten myself in more problems trying to control myself and not letting the Holy Spirit empower me to do that. So if you struggle with self-control in your mind and your heart and your words and all those things, understand that it doesn't start with our own power, it doesn't start with our own strength, it doesn't start with education and all that stuff. Those things are good, but all those things have to be controlled by the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that empowers us, it is the Holy Spirit that guides us, it is the Holy Spirit that gives us the ability to have self-control in the midst of chaos. So if you're struggling with self-control, first I would encourage you to pray and share that with the Lord. He already knows it, and the point of praying is not to inform God of things he doesn't already know. It's to have a conversation with your Heavenly Father, who can now equip you and give you the power and the strength to have self-control that can lead to gentleness and love and peace and joy and righteousness and all the other gifts that we've looked at. So again, I want to encourage you to be a person of prayer, seek self-control, so the Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit can flow through you so the world can see Jesus in you. Listen, God bless, have a great day. If I can do anything for you, please don't hesitate to shoot me a message, let me know. Have a good day.