Life on the Vine: Cultivating Self-Control

LIFE ON THE VINE:
CULTIVATING SELF-CONTROL

Fruit of the Spirit
Love
Joy
Peace
Patience
Kindness
Goodness
Faithfulness
Gentleness
Self-Control
Wouldnt we all like to have more self-control? As the holidays approach and we will be tempted by various and sundry high calorie foods wouldnt we all like to have more self-control? Well then, just wait until after Christmas and there will be a plethora of vendors ready to equip you with the tools to make 2006 the most self-controlled year of your life. Devices, books, and diets to help you eat less and exercise more. Plans, programs, and patches to help you quit smoking. Consultants, counselors, and connections to help you spend less and save more. Whatever area of your life needs more control, there is someone somewhere ready to show you the path to self-control. Wait and you will see as many paths to self-control as you could imagine. How then is self-control a fruit of the spirit? How is it different from the self-control we are being offered from so many?

The eight virtues we have discussed so far have all been connected somehow to the character of God. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness. God demonstrates all of these. But does God demonstrate self-control? Self-control is a virtue that humans who too often give into their lesser nature have to achieve. God doesnt have a problem with the works of the flesh. He does not struggle with lesser desires. So it isnt logical to think that God demonstrates self-control. How then is self-control a fruit of the spirit? Maybe the question we really need to ask is: What is self-control? What do we mean when we discuss self-control?

The Greek philosophers regarded self-discipline and self-control as the highest virtue. It was the top rung of the ladder in terms of moral development. The morally superior person was the one who had achieved mastery over ones desires, faults, and lusts. It is a high standard, but seems a little impossible. Hundreds of years before the New Testament, Plato recognized that there was a certain absurdity about self-control. He asked, Isnt the phrase self-mastery absurd? I mean anyone who is his own master is also his own slave, and vice versa, since it is the same person who is the subject. (Republic 430-431).

Plato raises an important question: Who is the self that is in control? The New Testament answers this in a way that the Greek philosophers could not. Because of the gospel, the New Testament writers can speak about a new self that comes about through life in Christ (life on the vine we might say).
Galatians 2:19-20 - For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Ephesians 4:22-24 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Three dimensions of self-control: The new self in Christ advances the definition of self-control beyond our typical definition. Like the Greek philosophers we still have a one-dimensional view of what self-control involves. 1-D = Control of the self, by the self, for the sake of the self (This is directed entirely on the self; but the fruit of the spirit are directed toward others) 2-D = Control of the self, by the self, for the sake of others (Now there is some thought to how self-control benefits others, but the responsibility and power for control remains in the individual) 3-D = Control of the new self, by the spirit for the sake of the gospel. (A third dimension is added when we consider that the spirit of God is involved to create a new self guided by the Holy Spirit. And we live out this new life to fulfill the gospel of Christ which is for the sake of ourselves and the world).

This three-dimensional self-control is consistent with keeping in step with the spirit. But the one-dimensional definition of self-control that keeps the self on center stage is what creates the obstacles to cultivating self-control ...

Obstacles
Our Culture of Excess, Extreme, and Addiction: Perhaps because the typical definition of self-control is consumed with self we find that our culture does not celebrate and encourage self-discipline as much as it does indulgence. Indulgence is much easier. We see this in the ways our culture promotes excess. My friend Jeff Christian says that, Excess has become a sport, a competition where the playing fields are our homes, our schools, our cars, and our grocery carts.
This encouragement is visible in the way that everything is now described as extreme. There are extreme sports, extreme music, extreme soft drinks. Labeling something extreme seems to magnify the experience. Now there is even extreme ironing. People skydive, scuba, or mountain climb with an iron and ironing board and iron their shirts. Everything is going extreme.
Since even the humblest activities and substances can be extreme and excessive we are widening the scope and acceptance of addictions. Addiction was once reserved for drugs and alcohol. And it has probably been a wise thing to recognize that there are other addictions. But there is a trend to accept and maybe even enjoy certain acceptable addictions. Think of how many words have been coined that add the suffix -aholic or junkie. We understand and even accept that someone is a workaholic, a shop-aholic, a chocoholic, a coffee-holic, or a sports junkie, exercise junkie, news junkie, TV junkie, and Internet junkie, a phone junkie. Just think for a moment what are we saying about the way we live our lives? What are we saying we depend on to cope or to enjoy life? What about temperance and reliance on Gods spirit. Why are we willing to become slaves to something other than God?

Moderation in All Things: Of course we can take the notion of temperance and moderation and apply it too broadly. At the same time our culture encourages indulgence, it also recognizes an opportunity for providing resources for moderation. (The alcohol companies urge us to drink responsibly. Philip Morris claims they are raising kids that dont smoke. McDonalds gives us Smart Healthy Choices after getting criticized for SuperSizing portions that were already massive.) The motto Moderation in all things becomes an excuse for us to indulge but just a little less. I am afraid that in our culture we have applied this maxim so that it becomes Excess Light. But theres no point in opting for the low-cal, light version of some things. Do we really want to take faithfulness in moderation? Are we truly interesting in sinning just a little bit? This is the principle behind certain sexual ethics that claim that immorality is okay as long as we do not go too far with it. In other words if we take it in moderation. [So, a wardrobe malfunction at the Super Bowl raises the ire of the FCC, but an hour of Victorias Secret models passes because the right sections of the anatomy are covered.] Being moderate is simply backing away from excess, but it doesnt mean that we have learned self-control. So how do we?

Ways of Cultivating Self-Control

The first step in cultivating self-control is to realize that we cannot do it. Hopeless? No, it is just that our attempts to achieve self-mastery empower the self that is the problem. We are better off is we focus on the other eight virtues of the fruit of the spirit. Cultivating these will lead to self-control which is a sort of by-product of a life that strives to be loving, joyous, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, and gentle.

Of course one thing we can do all of us together to help this final virtue bloom among the others is to regard our whole bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit. (2 Corinthians 6). By whole body I mean spirit, body, and mind.

Conclusion Life on the Vine